Burke produces storming display as Galway fend off Limerick

Limerick 1-18

Galway 0-24

THE manner in which this Division 1B National League fixture evolved at the Gaelic Grounds on Sunday makes one guarded about jumping to any big conclusions, but at least Galway’s hard-earned victory represented an encouraging step up on anything we have seen from them so far in 2017.

Frankly, the only match which mattered up to now was the disappointing home loss to Wexford in February, leaving the Tribesmen under pressure not to fluff their lines for a second time when confronting the only other serious opposition in their group.

Initially, the omens were alarming. Despite a protracted and intense warm-up, Galway were desperately slow out of the blocks and laboured badly for much of the opening quarter when only managing a solitary point from play despite having the backing of the wind.

Trailing by 0-7 to 0-3 after 18 minutes, Galway were in disarray at the back while their attack possessed little or no cutting edge. An energetic Limerick were calling the shots and their superiority was reflected in some quality point-taking, notably from Shane Dowling, Graeme Mulcahy, wing back Seamus Hickey and Cian Lynch.

Against that background, for Galway to end up carrying the day by three points was a notable achievement. The turnaround was aided by a combination of increased commitment levels, the switch of Padraic Mannion to the full back line, together with man of the match David Burke adopting a deeper role in the second quarter to close down some of the space Limerick had been thriving in.

Galway were still a point adrift at the interval and, to be honest, the least likely winners but the bleeding had been stopped. When the action resumed, Limerick had no shortage of territory only to hit a series of dispiriting wides. In fact, they fatally failed to score in the opening 14-minutes of the second-half.

To make matters worse, they had to sit and suffer as Burke, whose innate positional sense had him in the right places at the right times, exploded into life in rifling over four magnificent points to leave Galway ahead by 0-19 to 1-13 after 48 minutes. And unlike the Wexford game, they didn’t blow it from here despite Limerick rallying.

Though the win will be a big boost morale in the camp, there was a lot of loose marking and loose hurling from both teams. By the end, the match had also lost much of its structure with rival players liable to show up anywhere. Furthermore, Limerick’s confidence remain fragile when things start running against them, ensuring that Galway’s success must be kept in perspective.

For all that, Sunday’s win was a step in the right direction and given that All Star Daithí Burke and Conor Whelan were omitted from the match-day squad, the competition for places will be intense, particularly as three substitutes against Limerick, Shane Moloney, Thomas Monaghan and Niall Burke, between them landed the last three scores of the match.