Dawning of new era for Galway men

Date Published: 29-May-2009

WHAT should be a historic day for Galway hurling has lost some of its allure given that Laois – a side they have beaten heavily in each of the last four championships – are set to become the county’s first ever opponents in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship at Portlaoise on Sunday (3.30pm).
Margins of 11, 18, 12, and 20 points separated the sides in the last four All-Ireland qualifiers and, given how dismally the O’Moore County performed in Division Two of the Allianz NHL this year, defeat for the Tribesmen would be unthinkable this weekend.
At least Galway will now get off the mark around the same time as all of the major cham-pionship contenders and all they can aim for is a comfortable win before awaiting the draw for the provincial semifinals a week later when they could possibly be afforded a ‘non-fatal’ encounter with Kilkenny, the country’s one outstanding team.
Galway manager John McIntyre claims to have given priority to ‘workers’ in his first championship line-up, with Kevin Hynes set to make his championship debut alongside Portumna’s Andrew Smith in a new-look midfield partnership. Aonghus Callanan of Liam Mellows makes his first championship start at wing forward, but the big talking point from this sector is the decision to accommodate both Portumna’s Kevin ‘Chunky Hayes and Cyril Donnellan, who has been handed a new role on the left, in the half-forward line.