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.