It was a no contest, 14 players plus the man of the match on one team versus just 14 players on the other! No contest even if our side fielded in such a convoluted format that probably none of them knew really what their position was. Confuse the opposition (not to mention ourselves) that's the thing. The man of the match – a young fella — got entangled with a big rock — an ould fella — and with only one hand free scored a peach of a goal, the first score for our side. No contest for sure.

The players that wore numbers 1, 2 and 3 all key to their team were on yellow cards from early on. No contest, couldn't get worse for them, could it? The long-standing goalkeeper on their side was sent off which is why it became a 14 player team. No goalkeeper, no contest, couldn't be better for us. Serves them right, the other crowd, crowd of bullies! No turning back now. Enjoy the wind in the second half. We started favourites and now must surely be firm favourites. After all we led at half time. Let it in high to the man of the match. Just a matter of form, routine really, handy enough and us with an extra man and the man of the match. The good times were here, our day, our year, surely. Strangely our lads didn't come out for the second half. Capitulation at it's best. Wonder why that happened?

Well don't wonder too much. A French professor called Max Ringelmann figured it out way back in the 1890s. Figured out what? He figured out why 14 men very often beat 15 men, that's what. He did an experiment with a Tug o War team. First he measured one man pulling a rope, then two, then three and so on. When the second joined the team the first man reduced his effort to 93 %. When a third joined he dropped his effort to 86 %. By the time eight people were pulling the rope they were each pulling at half the rate they would have if pulling alone. It's called the Ringelmann Effect. But how is it counteracted. Difficult to say but you could write to any of the lads in the red jerseys on Saturday evening. Or ask Colm O'Rourke who thought at half time in the Cork-Kerry game the previous week that the match was over! Prof. Ringelmann didn't do any studies on capitulations, more's the pity. No sporting moment of the week to be found in Thurles but our sister paper the Cork Independent may find quite a few!

You spotted the error, we're sure. Last week we started with John Forde and Marc Stephens (Galway Rowing Club) winning three Irish titles at the national rowing championships in Cork. And they did, so what's the problem? Well we should have said John Forde, Marc Stephens and Danny O'Dowd won three Irish titles each and the Galway Rowing Club won four in all. Forde and Stephens won that dramatic Senior Pairs (in a photo) and the Coxed and Coxless Fours. It was Forde's third in a row Senior Pairs title and fourth in all! Danny O'Dowd was very much part of the Coxed and Coxless Fours wins. But he also won the Senior Quads! More like retained the Senior Quads! By any standards or criteria it was a most satisfactory weekend for the Galway Rowing Club.

Which reminds us to wish all the best to Ciarán O'Fatharta and Fergal Barry also from the Galway Rowing Club at they compete for Ireland as a Junior Pair in the Home Internationals in Cardiff on Saturday. We hope that they do as well as Lisa Dilleen (Tribesmen RC) who with Laura D'Urso (Derry RC) won gold in the Double Sculls at the Coupe de la Jeunesse at the National Rowing centre in Cork.

Jeff Kenna will attend a Galway United Fans Forum in association with GUST tonight in Becketts Bar @ 7.00pm. Club CEO Nick Leeson will also be in attendance.

Galway United Lotto Draw will take place on Sunday in Fox's Bar with a jackpot of 4,000 euro. And a supporters bus will travel to Ballybofey on Friday week for the game with Finn Harps. It will leave from Fibber Magees @ 2.30pm. Reservations with Ronan Coleman 087 6972823.

Friday is the closing date for the Future Streets of Galway 8K Road Race due to be run for the 23rd time on Saturday 9th August with the marginally earlier starting time of 7.00pm. Having said that, the Diary understands that the GCH club is choc a bloc with entries. Try it anyway, but don't say we didn't warn you! www.galwaycityharriers.com.