Galway hurlers gallop to big win over 14-man Dublin

Galway 2-28

Dublin 1-17

THESE on-a-hiding to nothing championship fixtures have occasionally proved fraught enough affairs for Galway hurlers in the past – their close shaves against Laois in 2013 and ’14 immediately spring to mind –  but there was little cause for drama or tension in Tullamore on Sunday.

This Leinster quarter-final was a potentially tricky assignment for the newly crowned National League champions, but instead it bore most of the hallmarks of a one-sided challenge outing by the end as a highly efficient Galway cantered to a 14-point victory over a disappointing Dublin outfit.

Against a background of a solitary championship win over the Dubs from seven previous clashes and the explosion of hype about Galway’s All-Ireland prospects, Micheál Donoghue’s charges handled the increased pressure with no obvious signs of distress even if they were a little slow to hit their stride.

Galway were never going to be as slick or fluent as they were in dismantling Tipperary in the league final, but they still provided enough evidence to back up widespread expectations that the Tribesmen are going to take stopping in the championship.

Dublin may have come into this fixture under a cloud after being relegated from Division 1a and shorn the services of several influential performers for one reason or another, but we still expected more from them. There was little cutting edge to their hurling and this lack of intensity contributed to a quarter-final which rarely had the healthy crowd of 14,316 really animated.

Sure, Galway conjured up some terrific scores – the link up play between Joe Canning and David Burke was again of an exceptional quality – and wing backs, Aidan Harte and Padraic Mannion, were both outstanding, but this was not a game where hurleys were broken and rival players were left bruised by combat.

Sure, Dublin were committed, but the necessary aggression, belief and passion in their ranks were absent. Goalkeeper Conor Dooley, Eoghan O’Donnell, Chris Crummey, who landed two quality points, Sean Moran, first-half, Niall McMorrow, in patches, and their best forward, Eamon Dillon, all enjoyed some good moments, but overall the team lacked conviction.

Full coverage in this week’s Conancht Tribune.