Hurlers flunk key test in losing top flight status

Galway 0-25

Cork 2-22

NOT the end of the world but a pretty dire result nonetheless.

Galway slipped out of the top tier for the first time in quarter of a century after succumbing to late goals from cocky Cork. They will next year contest Division 1B of the National Hurling League, along with some of the minnows of the game, Kerry and Offaly. Playing like they did on Sunday at Pearse Stadium, they won’t be out of place in the lower division.

How did it come to this? Galway was 35 minutes away from capturing Liam McCarthy last September and now they’ve slipped out of the country’s top six teams.

It cannot be analysed without reference to the peculiarity of the league system. Prior to the weekend, Galway earned one win and two draws and Cork lost all five games, and yet it came down to a winner-takes-all battle. It hardly seems fair. But they’re the rules.

What has to be factored into the entire league performance, too, is here was a squad that used its collective muscle to force regime change in a winter of discontent. The back-drop to this competition was Anthony Cunningham’s messy departure; the elephant in the room.

So it wasn’t an ordinary league; and Sunday wasn’t an ordinary league match. Survival was on the line. Reputations were on the line. It was high-stakes. Galway had something to prove.

And yet instead of laying down a marker early, they were flat, struggled to get to the pace of the game, and were second best in the first half in particular.

Cork was under pressure too. They were stung by criticism this spring – much of it merited – and so there was always going to be a sting in their tail.

But what about Galway, where was their kick? Backs to the wall and yet the response wasn’t adequate.

At some stage the players will have to stop pointing the finger of blame at the person who is managing them.

You’ve got to cut manager Micheál Donoghue some slack. His appointment Christmas week means the other counties had a head-start in terms of preparations. He’s been unlucky with injuries and in fairness, through necessity and experimenting, Donoghue used over 30 players in the campaign, probably the most tangible positive to be taken from the disappointment.

It’s worth noting that none of what happened in the league will matter one jot if Galway can capture an All-Ireland title this summer. Had Galway won the league, we wouldn’t get carried away, so it’s important not to be too despondent. But still, this result is bad for momentum, bad for morale, bad for the optics, and it’s a bad omen for the year ahead. It was the underperformance as much as the result that will rankle with grassroots.

Extensive coverage in this week’s Connacht Tribune.