Galway hurlers get major fright from rank outsiders

Galway 1-19

Antrim 1-16

IF Galway hurlers needed hard evidence that 2018 is about to present more exacting challenges than their all-conquering season of last year, they got it in spades against rank outsiders Antrim at Pearse Stadium on Sunday.

The team’s return to competitive action for the first time since that unforgettable All-Ireland triumph last September had been expected to translate into a routine victory, even allowing for all the distracting celebrations, fielding only a handful of regulars and a belated return to the training ground.

But ten minutes from the end, the unthinkable prospect of a shock Antrim win was on the cards as their seriously ring-rusty hosts struggled to overhaul a three-point deficit. The fine crowd of just under 4,000 and the animated Galway mentors sensed the gravity of the situation, with the introduction of several substitutions bringing vital energy to the league champions.

Though Galway lined out with just six of their All-Ireland final team, the rest were all established members of the panel bar newcomer Brian Concannon, who made a decent impression. On all known form, they should have been still way too strong for an Antrim outfit who were operating in the third tier of league hurling last year.

In fact, the Glensmen’s stock had fallen so far this decade even winning the Christy Ring Cup proved beyond them for the last two years, but they came to Salthill with a game-plan – notably, a packed defence – and also produced their best performance in quite a few seasons.

Full report in this week’s Connacht Tribune.