Galway too strong for Laois but sloppy end spoils win

Galway 1-27

Laois 2-15

MAD for road. That symbolises the attitude of Galway hurlers so far in 2019 as they comfortably maintained the team’s positive start to the new season with a routine win over Laois in the opening round of the National League at Pearse Stadium last Sunday.

Though a sloppy finish took some of the gloss off their day’s work in Salthill, when Galway needed to be business like they weren’t found wanting, with Cathal Mannion delivering another towering display from his new midfield base.

With only four of their All-Ireland final team starting, this was the latest opportunity for the Galway management to run the rule over some of the squad’s fringe players, an approach which should increase the competition for first-team places down the line.

And for sixty minutes of a lively encounter in front of a decent crowd of 8,211, Micheál Donoghue and his mentors must have been encouraged by what they saw. The work ethic and commitment were again impressive, with Galway’s cohesive use of possession often taking the spirited Midlanders out of their comfort zone.

Like Wexford in the Walsh Cup final the previous weekend, the Tribesmen against had to contend with an opposition sweeper system, but it caused them little difficulty. Galway sprayed the sliotar around intelligently and their overall superiority was reflected in establishing a big lead of 1-24 to 1-9 by the 59th minute.

Somewhat understandably, the home team slackened off subsequently as a maze of substitutions took a toll on their overall fluency, but the Galway camp will still be disappointed over how ragged they became over the closing stages when Laois outscored them by 1-6 to 0-3.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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