Galway U21s fail to close the deal in Thurles

Wexford 1-21

Galway  1-19

THERE is little consolation to be taken from coming out on the losing side of a thriller, as the Galway U-21 hurlers discovered when their challenge faded alarmingly in the closing stages of the All-Ireland semi-final against Wexford on Saturday evening.

Once again, the unequal nature of this championship was called into question as the Tribesmen ran out of steam against a team who had been battle-hardened by wins over Kilkenny, Offaly, and Dublin in their provincial campaign.

Johnny Kelly’s Galway side looked to be up to the task for three-quarters of this tie after coming in ‘cold’ to the semi-final, but they seemed to lack conviction in the closing stretch after momentum swung in favour of the Leinster champions.

The disillusion which seems to have swept through the Galway hurling heartlands in 2014 was reflected in a tiny following for the maroon and white in the 6,853 attendance at Thurles, in stark contrast to the joyous scenes as the Wexford fans staged a pitch invasion to celebrate their passage to the final.

At least Galway were not annihilated, as they had been by Clare at this stage last year. But a team which looked good on paper, boasting a promising half-forward line, failed to come up with the goods when the game was there for the taking in the second half.

Without looking for excuses, perhaps they would have benefitted from some more game time. And perhaps they might have risen to the challenge if they had some backing from the stands in the closing stretch.

The turning point came eight minutes into the second half, when big Jonathan Glynn managed to squeeze the sliotar through to Jason Flynn. Wexford goalie Oliver O’Leary advanced off his line to make a brilliant point blank save to deny a clear goal chance for the corner forward and the Leinster men whisked the ball up-field for Jack Guiney to fire over a close-range free.

It was a four point turnaround in the space of seconds, at a stage when the Tribesmen held a three point advantage (1-17 to 1-14). Had Flynn’s shot hit the net, one sensed there might be no way back for Wexford. Instead, they outscored the Tribesmen 6-2 from there to the final whistle.

How to deploy Glynn was one of the dilemmas faced by the Galway management, an issue which also might have been addressed by more game time. The giant full-forward spent much of the game out at wing-forward, when he could have caused more damage closer to the Wexford goals.

And yet there was much to be enthusiastic about in the opening half, with both Padraic Brehony and Shane Maloney finding the target in response to the opening score from Wexford’s Conor Devitt.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.