Canning back for one last crack

Date Published: 17-Apr-2008

FOR many Galway supporters, it felt like the final piece had been put in the jig-saw this week when Ollie Canning announced his return to inter-county hurling.

It’s not that Canning’s return makes a September All-Ireland final any more of a certainty, it’s just that it would have been unthinkable to imagine the Tribesmen battling without the veteran corner back this summer.

Now, suddenly, with both Ollie (31) and youngerJoe (19) on board, there won’t be any regrets or pondering about what might have been at the end of the championship this time around.

Ollie proved that he still had a lot to offer at the highest level when he produced a majestic performance, despite a couple of early set-backs under dropping balls, in Portumna’s All- Ireland club final win over Birr at Croke Park.

In the immediate aftermath of that game, he declined to speculate on a return to the county colours, but the prospect has clearly been on his mind ever since that St. Patrick’s Day success.

The corner back enjoyed “a very positive chat” with the Galway management last week, in which Ger Loughnane and his selectors made it clear to Canning that he still had a lot to offer.

He announced his retirement in late January of last year, and wasn’t even in the country when Galway lost to Kilkenny in last year’s All-Ireland quarter-final, but a year and a half without injury prompted the Portumna captain to reconsider his position.

“It’s pretty much been on my mind since St. Patrick’s Day,” he told Tribune Sport on Wednesday. “There were …………………….