Galway give their all but Cats march on

Kilkenny               1-25

Galway                 2-15

GALWAY needed to produce a performance in their Leinster senior hurling final joust against reigning All-Ireland champions Kilkenny and, to a certain extent, the Tribesmen did that in an energetic display in front of an attendance of almost 33,000 at Croke Park on Sunday.

While Anthony Cunningham’s charges will be disappointed not to have secured their second provincial title in four years, by the same token there were plenty of positives – including a level of consistency of performance – to be taken from this contest.

Indeed, leaving Croke Park, you could not help but feel that Galway have more room for improvement than Kilkenny, who claimed their 70th Leinster title with this victory, and with a small bit of tweaking and improvements in key areas they may just challenge for the ultimate honour in the Autumn.

Early on, the signs were good as Galway traded manfully with the Cats, who despite hitting the Westerners for 1-3 in a five-minute spell late in the first half had their lead reduced to three at the interval after Joe Canning netted a wonder goal just before the break.

At this stage, Galway trailed 1-11 to 1-8 but they subsequently found themselves back on level terms after the restart when an Andrew Smith delivery broke in behind the Kilkenny defence allowing 26th minute substitute Jason Flynn to capitalise for one of his trademark goals to level up the game.

Unfortunately, Galway, who only led once over the 70 minutes plus, were unable to take advantage and push on as Kilkenny responded with a TJ Reid pointed free shortly after and this, for the most part, was the crux of Galway’s problem.

During the Tribesmen’s periods of ascendancy, Kilkenny were still able to conjure up a score, where as when the Cats got on a run, Cunningham’s men struggled to disrupt their momentum. And Kilkenny are all about momentum.

In this respect, Galway must do an audit – and tidy up – not only in terms of player positioning and, perhaps, selection with the availability of fit again players, but also in the fundamentals of the game. For one, the distribution from the half-back line into the forwards was too one dimensional.

Repeatedly, the inside line was forced to grapple for the high ball. Galway thrive on space. Little was created. That said, you could argue the over-use of the high ball could also be attributed to the pressure the middle third were put under by the insatiable work-rate of Kilkenny.

Another aspect the Tribesmen must address was the concession of space to Kilkenny around the middle. They were far too loose and, as a result, Kilkenny punished them as roving centre-forward Richie Hogan and midfield duo Conor Fogarty and Walter Walsh picked off seven points between them.

Full report in this week’s Connacht Tribune.