Galway mentor Curley hopeful of laying quarter-final bogey in Thurles

GALWAY will look to win their first All-Ireland senior hurling championship quarter-final since 2005 – and by doing so also banish their Semple Stadium hoodoo – when they face Cork at the Tipperary venue on Sunday week (July 26) at 4pm.

Not since the Tribesmen defeated Tipperary, 1-20 to 1-18, in the All-Ireland quarter-final at Croke Park a decade ago have they managed to achieve a similar feat, with the Westerners losing an astonishing six quarter-finals in the interim.

In addition, it has been well-documented that Semple Stadium has been the graveyard of Galway’s title ambitions over the years and this has been no more underlined by the fact that they have exited the championship at the venue six times – four quarter-finals and two qualifiers – over the last nine years.

That said, Galway have already broken the mould in 2015 when defeating Dublin for the first time in senior championship hurling and selector Damian Curley believes it is well with the Leinster finalists remit to set the record straight again.

Why, though, is Galway’s relationship with Semple Stadium so fraught with peril? “It is kind of one of those great mysteries I have to say,” notes Curley. “In that, you would say, and having played in Thurles years ago myself, it really suits a team like Galway because it is one of the biggest, most open pitches in the country. It is always made for fast hurling and that is why I would say it has to suit Galway teams.

“And yet, our record hasn’t been brilliant in it, although some of those defeats were very narrow. So, I suppose, it is a thing that has crept into the psyche of supporters as much as anything. That said, all those unenviable records are there to be broken and it would be nice to break that one. We hadn’t beaten Dublin in championship until this year so it might be another duck to break on Sunday week.”

In addition, Galway will also be bidding to win their first All-Ireland quarter-final since 2005, having lost out at the same stage to Kilkenny (2006 and 2007), Waterford (2009 & 2011), Tipperary (2010) and Clare (2013) in the ensuing years. In 2012, they by-passed the quarter-finals as Leinster champions.

“It doesn’t make for great reading,” agrees Curley. “Every year and every game though is different and you can only look at what is ahead of you. The margins are quite close between all the teams. You could lose by a point or win by a point.”

Encouragingly, Galway’s championship record against Cork has been good in recent times, defeating the Leesiders in their three previous meetings (2009, 2011 and 2012). “It has been reasonably good,” acknowledges Curley.

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