Contrasting fortunes for Galway's top two clubs

The two most successful GAA clubs in the county enjoyed a weekend of contrasting fortunes as Corofin reached another county football final and Athenry suffered a shock exit from the hurling race. Many clubs have enjoyed a day in the sun in the past two decades but the most consistent sides have been Corofin in football and Athenry in hurling.

Caltra and Salthill-Knocknacarra have gone all the way to All-Ireland glory after winning the county football title, while Kiltormer, Sarsfields and current champions Portumna have gone all the way in hurling.

But for sheer consistency it is hard to argue with Athenry's seven county titles in the past 14 years - three of which culminated in national glory - while Corofin last weekend qualified for their 12th county final in 21 years.

It is testimony to the men and women in these parishes that such a conveyor belt of talent has kept coming through.

Athenry's shock exit to Beagh will raise the question about whether the well has run dry, while there is a notion in Corofin that they may have a few lean years in the not too distant future. But there can be no denying that both Athenry and Corofin raised the bar to a magnificent level and a key factor has been the consistently high displays produced by their county players when wearing the club colours.

Kieran Fitzgerald is the epitomy of this for Corofin, for a player who has achieved so much in the county colours - and indeed for the club - the sheer determination he shows on the field assures that young lads coming through to wear the yellow and green would not dare be a slacker. Is it any wonder they are so successful?

Portumna to conquer the desert

Not content with conquering county, province and country, Portumna hurlers will now head to the deserts of the United Arab Emirates after winning a week's training with DJ Carey and Nicky English through the competition run by GAA hurling sponsor Etihad Airways.

Whether they will go there next year as the reigning Galway champions remains to be seen but they have shown, like Athenry and Corofin before them, that success has not reduced the desire to win.

They said it

'If we could have got him for £500,000 and played him in our reserves for a few seasons, we might have been interested' - Man. Utd. boss Alex Ferguson as Republic of Ireland striker moved from Wolves to Coventry for £6m in 1999.

It happened on this day

24th September 1988: At the Seoul Olympics Ben Johnson 'won' the 100m final in a world record time of 9.79 seconds. The record was disallowed and the medal taken away from him when drug tests proved that the Canadian had taken performance-boosting anabolic steroids.

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