Preview Calry/St Joseph’s v St Mary’s
Connacht Junior Hurling Championship Semi Final
Calry/St Joseph’s v Carrick Hurling Club/St Mary’s
Monday 30th October Markievicz Park 2pm
Reigning Connacht Junior Hurling Champions Calry/St Jospeh’s meet Carrick HC/St Mary’s in the Connacht Junior Hurling Semi Final after both triumphed in their respective county finals over the last few weeks.
For Calry/St Joseph’s, it was an amazing seventh county title in a row, defeating Western Gaels 2-15 to 3-10. They looked in serious trouble at half time but showed impressive determination to claw back the 2-6 to 0-9 advantage held by the Gaels, with their two second half goals eventually proving to be crucial. It was a particularly sweet victory for them as it allowed them to gain revenge on Western Gaels after they had gotten the better of them earlier on in Round 4 of the championship in Round 4, 2-11 to 1-10.
It was an eleventh Sligo Senior County Title for Calry/St Joseph’s, and they now move forward to the Connacht Junior Championship with the hope of defending the title that they won last year and adding to the four times in total they have won it previously, in 2009, 2012, 2013 and of course 2016.
Calry/St Joseph’s and St Mary’s met as recently as 2010 in the same competition, with the Leitrim men coming out on top on that occasion, eventually going down to Barna/Na Forbacha of Galway in the final by three points.
St. Mary’s are the traditional kingpins of Leitrim Hurling, having won the County Championship a record 31 times. Their most recent success came after they dethroned previous champions Cluainín Iomáint 3-11 to 0-8 to reclaim the title they had not won since 2014.
When it comes to the provincial championship, St Mary’s have yet to taste success, although they have finished runners up on a number of occasions, aswell as the 2010 game they lost two finals in a row to Skehana of Galway in 2005 and 2006.
Winners of this game will go on to face the Junior champions from Galway who are Sylane.
This game will take place in the Connacht GAA Centre on the 4th of November.
