Galway deliver timely statement in flooring All-Ireland champions

Inside Track with John McIntyre

WE have been waiting a couple of years for the type of vibrant display Galway hurlers served up at the Gaelic Grounds last Saturday. Coming barely 100 days into the managerial reign of Henry Shefflin, it’s an early validation of enticing the Kilkenny legend west in the first place.

The long-established players on the squad are looking rejuvenated, while the newcomers are mad keen to impress the sport’s most influential performer ever. It all adds up to Galway suddenly rediscovering their mojo as All-Ireland champions Limerick discovered to their cost at the weekend.

Shefflin hadn’t over-reacted to Galway’s mauling by Dublin in the Walsh Cup in January, and he adopted the same level-headed attitude after their great evening’s work at the Gaelic Grounds. Though he kept a sense of perspective on both occasions, he must have been privately thrilled at Galway’s rousing effort against Limerick.

It wasn’t as though the winners of three of the last four All-Ireland titles were ambushed or had sleepwalked their way into the fixture. Limerick had been beaten by Wexford in the first round of the league and would have been keen to deliver as response. Their supporters in the big crowd of over 12,000 expected the same too.

Limerick couldn’t have made a better start. Aaron Gillane had rifled to the net in the third minute, while young Cathal O’Neill was quick to make an impression in the half-forward line. Galway ought to have been rattled, but they weren’t. Instead, they were working as hard as possible to disrupt the opposition’s trademark possession game.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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