Inside Track
Galway hurling needs to take a leaf out of Clare’s book
Inside Track with Ciaran Tierney
Where to now for Galway hurling? As virtually the entire hurling world celebrates in the afterglow of a truly phenomenal All-Ireland final replay, genuine delight at the success of our neighbours south of the border has to be tempered by frustration that the 2014 campaign never really took off for a Galway side which was listed among the title favourites at the start of the year.
As delegates from the clubs sit down to pass judgement on a poor year for the county’s senior team this week, there is no doubt that Clare’s thrilling win has electrified hurling people all over the country amid delight that the dominance of the ‘big three’ – Kilkenny, Cork, and Tipperary – dating back to 1999 has at last been broken.
Hopefully, now, the sport will open up to the less-traditional counties in the coming years, to match the revolution of the 1990s, and players in counties such as Waterford, Limerick, Wexford, and Dublin should have an extra pep in their step when they return for Winter training. Kilkenny just don’t seem to have the same aura about them, or appear to be so far ahead of the pack, any more.
Clare’s fourth All-Ireland success provided a fitting end to a fantastic championship. It seemed to come out of the blue, as there was certainly no basis for thinking that they would end up as 2013 All-Ireland champions when they hosted Galway in a dour National Hurling League game before a crowd of about 3,000 down in Ennis in early March.
But a Banner side featuring a teenage Shane O’Donnell at corner forward showed character and grit in abundance that day – attributes which held them in good stead all Summer – to hurl resolutely against the wintry elements in the second half and forge out a narrow 0-18 to 1-13 win.
The only memorable aspect from that tie from a Galway point of view was how much the visitors relied on Joe Canning, who hit 1-9 of the 1-13, and a hugely impressive Davy Glennon – the Tribesmen’s one true ‘find’ of this year’s League – in an underperforming attack.
John Conlon was Clare’s inspiration that day, hitting three superb long-range points in a row when Galway had the backing of the elements in the third quarter, and it was clear that Davy Fitzgerald was in the early process of ‘blooding’ a promising, if extremely youthful, side.
By way of contrast, Galway failed to nail down key positions during a disappointing League or to build on the huge promise they showed in reaching last year’s final.
By the time the sides met again in the All-Ireland quarter-final in Thurles, Clare were on a roll. The Banner had learned a lot from overcoming Wexford in extra time of their qualifier, despite shooting 20 wides, and there was a lethal intensity about them at Semple Stadium that an extremely flat Galway side could not cope with.
Anthony Cunningham’s men failed to deal with the Banner’s new-look sweeper system, took off both starting midfielders, and would have been annihilated but for two second half goals which came somewhat against the run of play. As it transpired, they had no complaints about exiting the championship on a scoreline of 1-23 to 2-14.
It was the seventh time in eight years that the Tribesmen were out of the championship before the Galway Races, despite their massive achievement in overcoming a seemingly unbeatable Kilkenny in last year’s Leinster final and taking them to an All-Ireland Final replay last September.
For more, read this week’s Galway City 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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