Inside Track
Galway hurling must call a halt to bum deal in Leinster
Inside Track with John McIntyre
AS a strong advocate of Galway moving into the Leinster hurling championship in 2009, the increasing reality is that the county is getting a bad rap from the move east. It’s simply not a level playing field or else Saturday’s quarter-final replay would be going ahead at Pearse Stadium rather than Tullamore.
Galway team manager Anthony Cunningham hit the nail on the heads in his post match media briefing after their gallant draw against Dublin at Croke Park last Sunday. “Galway need to be properly embraced in Leinster and I would love if Dublin came to Pearse Stadium.”
Cunningham spoke out after it had quickly become clear that O’Connor Park, Tullamore would be hosting Saturday evening’s replay in a double bill with the Kildare and Laois footballers. “Galway need to be on a home and away basis in Leinster and our loyal fans would welcome that.”
The Tribesmen boss got his point across without going to war on the matter. Cunningham understandably doesn’t want any significant distraction ahead of the second instalment against Dublin, but he was perfectly entitled to air the grievances about the complete lack of inter-county championship hurling in Galway since the 2011 qualifier against Clare.
Had Saturday’s replay gone ahead in Salthill, it would have proven a great marketing promotion for the sport locally, especially in the city and, perhaps, help reclaim the loyalty of some supporters who are continually traipsing up to the Sportsground to view the overhyped Connacht rugby team which has yet to win anything.
Galway are getting the thin edge of the wedge here with no prospect of their situation improving in relation to staging home games in Leinster. To compound the sense of injustice, the decision of the provincial council to bar the county’s minors and U-21s from following in the seniors’ footsteps smacks of self preservation on a grand scale.
It wouldn’t be unreasonable to anticipate of crowd of around 15,000 at Pearse Stadium this weekend, especially after Galway’s gritty effort in the drawn game, but a golden opportunity has been lost and apart from stacking the odds against David Collins and company, the financial drain on the die-hard fan base is significant and grossly unfair.
GAA officials in the county are going to have really flex their muscles on this issue or else Galway hurlers will continue to be treated like second class citizens. The Leinster Council can’t have it every way, but this status quo will continue unless their visitors from the west pursue the matter with renewed vigour and commitment.
In the immediate term, there is now a dangerous presumption around the place that Galway will automatically finish the job in the replay. In theory, you can understand why supporters would have higher expectations heading to Tullamore after the team survived a demanding second-half at Croke Park. For starters, they are likely to have a stronger team out with Greg Lally a candidate for promotion in the half back line, together with the prospect of Padraig Mannion – the find of the season – policing Mark Schutte from the off.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Inside Track with John McIntyre
SOMETHING very odd happened to Tyrone in the Ulster championship in early April. On their home turf of Healy Park, they were doing nearly everything expected of them when leading Monaghan by five points at half-time. You couldn’t say for definite that the match was done and dusted, but the 2021 All-Ireland champions were in pole position.
You would have expected them to drive on against an honest if limited Monaghan outfit. Instead, Tyrone didn’t score for the opening 16 minutes of the second-half and in an enthralling finale, were left stunned by defender Ryan’s Toole’s stoppage-time goal snatching the honours for the Farney men on a 2-17 to 1-18 scoreline.
A couple of weeks later, Monaghan themselves had exited the Ulster title race when Derry comfortably got the better of them (1-21 to 2-10), leaving us more puzzled than ever by Tyrone’s dramatic decline since overcoming Mayo to claim Sam barely 20 months previously. Last year, they crashed out of Ulster by 11 points to Derry and subsequently came up six short against Armagh in the All-Ireland qualifiers.
Against that background, their recent loss to Monaghan shouldn’t have come as a surprise, but it did. Tyrone may have made a shambolic defence of the All-Ireland title, but there is still a lot of quality in their ranks. They have an adventurous ‘keeper in Niall Morgan, while the long-serving Peter Harte, Darragh Canavan, Darren McCurry, Cathal McShane, Conor Meyler, Mattie Donnelly, and Conn Kilpatrick are all top-class performers when in the mood.
There’s hardly been a word about them for the past six weeks. Tyrone are lying low, desperately trying to rediscover the verve and cohesion which took them all the way in 2021. Their pride is on the line. It makes them dangerous opponents for Galway in the opening round of All-Ireland group matches at Pearse Stadium on Saturday.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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Inside Track with John McIntyre
GALWAY footballers won’t get much credit for their easy victory over Sligo in Sunday’s Connacht Final in Castlebar, but when a team achieves something that hasn’t been done for 20 years, perhaps we should be a little more appreciative of the Tribesmen retaining the JJ Nestor Cup for the first time in two decades.
To be honest, if Galway were to live up to their standing as serious All-Ireland contenders, they needed to be doing a number on Sligo. In this year’s National League, the counties were three divisions apart and though Tony McEntee’s team achieved promotion and were on a nine-match unbeaten run, a serious rise in class faced them at MacHale Park.
Granted, Sligo made a bright start with three points in the opening five minutes from Pat Spillane, Sean Carrabine and the accurate Darragh Cummins, but they would only manage two more by the break despite having the wind behind them. Though wing back Luke Towey was catching the eye with his runs up-field, Galway rarely looked under pressure.
Sligo were bravely committing numbers to the middle third, which meant they were a little light in numbers around their own posts. They couldn’t afford to lose possession coming out of their own half, but that’s what happened in the build up to Galway’s second goal. Damien Comer overturned Cian Lally and from his counter-attack, Matthew Tierney expertly finished to the net at the near post.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Inside Track with John McIntyre
IS the Leinster hurling championship something of a sham compared to its Munster counterpart? Everybody knows who will end up in the provincial final in the east, but nobody knows the two teams who will feature in the ultimate battle for supremacy down south.
All-Ireland champions Limerick aren’t guaranteed to even make it out of the province, never mind reach the Munster final, after their narrow loss to Clare in Saturday evening’s epic at the Gaelic Grounds. Everything is still on the line for the five counties involved, although Waterford are again under serious pressure after losing their opening two matches.
In Leinster, there is little of that drama. Galway and Kilkenny are miles ahead of the rest; the only thing at stake is whether Dublin or Wexford – they meet in Croke Park on Saturday – will be the third team to emerge for the All-Ireland series. It’s a game which is hard to call. Wexford are going backwards while Dublin look callow as Micheál Donoghue is trying to build the nucleus of a new team.
Though Antrim are improving – they held the Dubs to a draw and only lost to Wexford by four points – the men from the Glens would be out of their depth in Munster; while Westmeath are proving cannon-fodder for everyone else. Since Galway headed east in 2009, they have clashed with Kilkenny in seven Leinster finals and another showdown is inevitable next month.
In contrast, every match in Munster is virtually do-or die. When Clare rolled into Limerick last Saturday, they knew another defeat after losing to Tipperary in the opening round would leave them on the precipice of exiting the championship. There’s a real dog-eat-dog appeal about all the games. In Leinster, there are two big hounds, and the rest are chihuahuas.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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