Galway get going too late as driven Limerick end long McCarthy Cup famine

THE curtain came down on a magical 18 months or so in the life of those infused with a love of the game of hurling in Galway at Croke Park on Sunday when the Tribesmen’s reign as All-Ireland senior champions came to a frustrating end.

As with most conclusions of this nature, the outcome was disappointing, heightened by a sense that Galway did not play as well as they could against a Limerick outfit that was young, fearless and ravenous. Over the past three years, Galway, themselves, have embodied those attributes but, on Sunday, the hunter became the hunted.

Undeniably, nothing can be taken away from Limerick’s victory. They played with abandon – at times, too much so, hitting no less than 20 wides – but they were organised and eager enough to create their own piece of history and end a 45-year drought.

As for Galway, playing at the intensity they have done since Michéal Donoghue took over, one day, inevitably, something had to give. In his term so far – and, hopefully, Sunday was far from the end – they have produced so much intensity in their game that, at times, it has almost frightened teams into submission.

The template going forward may take some tweaking after this loss to Limerick but for almost 36 months the game-plan, the unity of purpose and the ferocious work-rate they cultivated was instrumental to some massive victories, no more so than in last year’s All-Ireland triumph.

Unfortunately, having brought this to each and every game – including recent replay victories over Kilkenny and Clare – when the time came at 3:30pm on Sunday to unleash the monster again, the energy reserves and intensity levels required had not sufficiently replenished themselves after a hectic Summer schedule.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.

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