Galway buried by rampant Rebels

Date Published: 31-Jul-2007

THIS was a grim throwback to the sixties and seventies when Galway minor hurling teams were routinely dismantled in the All-Ireland championship . . . and it is clear a golden era for the county’s U-18s is over, for the present at least.

The odds were always stacked against Galway completing a fifth consecutive championship win over Cork, but few supporters anticipated that they would be so out of their depth at Croke Park on Sunday.

The match was over with indecent haste as the boys in maroon were simply outclassed. There is probably little to be gained either from criticising the Sean Connolly led team management or the players themselves in response to this drubbing. Galway didn’t possess the resources to trouble Cork and even in advance of the match, the speculation was that the squad lacked potential individual stars.

Yet, given the fact that Galway possessed a fair sprinkling of last year’s panel, supporters were entitled to expect a much more competitive showing than Sunday’s almost embarrassing offering. It’s one thing wanting to manage at inter-county level, it’s quite another to bring it all together. Furthermore, the question has to be asked why over two thirds of the team comprised of players from South Galway?

Cork hadn’t even been good enough to win the Munster title, but they were miles ahead of the Westerners in…….