Cakewalk in Cavan leaves title holders little the wiser

Galway 2-22

Antrim   0-8

NOTHING out of the ordinary here. Basically, the expected pre-match script materialised as Galway made short work of an Antrim team which was out of its depth in the All-Ireland minor hurling quarter-final at Breffni Park on Saturday.

With eight of last year’s all-conquering squad in the starting 15 and two more, Ian O’Brien and Michael Lynch out injured, Galway’s pedigree was beyond doubt and they went about their first defence of the title in business-like fashion in front of a small crowd.

Leading by 1-14 to 0-4 at the break, the All-Ireland champions had their passage to the semi-finals already wrapped up, but they were laboured and sloppy subsequently despite piling more misery on an Antrim team which couldn’t cope with Galway’s superior balls skills and the speed in which they were doing things.

The gulf in standard was evident from the off as Galway hit the ground running, with four points on the board in less than four minutes. They were never under pressure and though over-indulgent in possession at times, the boys in maroon were just in a different league.

Frankly, the benefits of this mis-match to Galway are virtually non-existent, apart from getting a championship game under the belts and becoming reacquainted with all the associated logistics involved. At least, however, the team management have now a stick to beat their players with over significantly dropping their intensity levels in the second half.

It may have been understandable that Galway slackened off for those final 30 minutes as they were already home and hosed, but Geoffrey Lynskey and his selectors were unhappy with their players’ overall work-rate after half-time – a mood which is symbolic of the high standards the team mentors are setting.

“To be honest, our second half was poor. It would not be good enough against stronger opposition. I guess the lads were looking at the scoreboard and it impacted on their display. We have to drive on from here and we have three weeks to do so.

“I think our lads switched off in the second-half when we didn’t have the necessary intensity and our keeper {Jack Forde} had to make two good saves as well. We have several players to come back and the competition for places will keep them honest,” said Lynskey afterwards.