Galway’s minors put Hawk Eye behind them to bid for All-Ireland glory

Over two weeks of controversy and three separate appeals came to an end on Monday night when a decision by the GAA’s Disputes Resolution Authority (DRA) paved the way for the Galway minor hurlers to take on Waterford in Sunday’s eagerly-awaited All-Ireland final at Croke Park (1.15pm).

Galway manager Mattie Murphy readily admitted this week that the dispute over the Hawk Eye technology has provided the most unusual backdrop of all to the ten finals he has contested with the county at the U18 grade since his first title success, against Waterford, back in 1992.

Limerick lost their August 18 semi-final after extra time, but sought to have the result overturned and brought a series of appeals to the GAA authorities as a perfectly legitimate Barry Nash point inside the first minute had been deemed a “miss” due to a malfunction to the Hawk Eye technology.

The sides finished level at the end of normal time – before Galway beat the Treaty men by 0-23 to 0-20 after extra time to set up a final showdown with Waterford on Sunday.

Limerick brought appeals to the Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC), the Central Appeals Committee (CAC), and then the DRA before their final appeal was turned down after a meeting which lasted almost four hours.

Limerick County Secretary Mike O’Riordan and the county’s legal team presented an appeal that comprised over 70 pages of documentation at the DRA hearing which lasted for almost four hours in Tullamore on Monday night.

“It’s one of the things that you have no control over, so you just don’t worry about it,” said Galway manager Murphy. “What we have in front of us now is the final next Sunday and it’s Waterford who are there. We kept training as normal. Thankfully, it doesn’t seem to have had any impact on our preparations.”

Galway have no injury worries and will start as slight 11/10 outsiders to beat a Waterford side who have not been in the minor final since Murphy’s first batch of youngsters won the first of his six titles back in 1992.

See full preview in this week’s Connacht Tribune.