“Tooreen did not panic and were deserving winners” - Ray Larkin

TOOREEN manager and Galway native Ray Larkin was over the moon after the Mayo lads pulled off another sensational win in the Connacht Intermediate Hurling Final in Athleague on Sunday. The man from Kilnadeema-Leitrim, who now resides in Kiltimagh, had no shortage of help from his home county on the day.

The team is trained by former Galway hurler, Nigel Shaughnessy from Loughrea, and the addition of Tomás Costello from Corofin has added an extra arrow to the Tooreen bow. The role of Tomás as the chief stats man, assisted by Peter Cassidy and Ger Greally, was acknowledged by Shane Boland in his victory speech.

“Tomás has been an excellent addition to our management team. He has also worked with the Galway senior hurlers and other teams. He had a lot of work done on the Ballinderreen tactics and he is right up there at the top of his job,” says Ray.

“Ballinderreen got off to a flying start but we did not panic. We have a lot of experience in this team and some of the more seasoned lads helped settle the team and get us back on track.
“I was delighted with the overall work rate and team effort. This is an exceptional bunch of lads who have such a passion for hurling and they continue to surprise people from the hurling counties who always look on Mayo as a football county. Ballinderreen are a fine team and have some great players but I feel we were very deserving winners after that outstanding performance by the Tooreen lads on Sunday,” adds Ray.

Tooreen will now take on the winners of the Munster Intermediate Final between Corofin (Clare) and Castlelyons (Cork) which will be played this weekend. The All Ireland semi-final will be played on the weekend of December 16-17.

Read a full report on the game from Michael Commins in today's edition of The Mayo News.