Hurlers steady the nerves with easy win in Mullingar

Inside Track with John McIntyre

The potential ambush in Mullingar never materialised. Westmeath simply didn’t possess the artillery to bring about one of the greatest shocks in the history of the hurling championship. The presumption that the Midland minnows had been making significant progress this summer, together with their U-21s’ sensational win over Kilkenny, actually counted against them . . . for Galway were on their toes heading to Cusack Park.

In their two previous Leinster championship encounters in 2011 and ‘12, Westmeath had been competitive and subjected the Tribesmen to a fright on each occasion. This time round Michael Ryan’s charges appeared in even better shape, having come through the round-robin stages of the provincial title race unbeaten, with their surprise 2-22 to 1-11 victory over Offaly in Mullingar a real statement of intent.

Ironically, however, with their cover blown there was unfamiliar pressure on Westmeath to give Galway a serious rattling last Sunday. They clearly didn’t cope well with that situation and probably under-performed. The hosts needed a flying start, but instead they were 0-7 to 0-2 behind after only 14 minutes with goalkeeper Paddy Maloney having already bailed them out of trouble on more than one occasion.

By half time, struggling Westmeath were 0-17 to 0-5 adrift and one of the romantic stories of the early GAA summer was coming to an end. The likes of Niall O’Brien, in particular, Alan Devine and substitutes, Brendan Murtagh and Niall Mitchell, did pick off some neat scores, but they never threatened to live up to the hopes of their supporters among the decent attendance of 5,283.

Even allowing for Westmeath’s limitations, this still represented a positive day’s work from Galway. There is little to be served from raking up again the fallout from the heave against previous manager Anthony Cunningham and the team’s subsequent relegation to Division 1B, except that it wasn’t the ideal background for new boss Micheál Donoghue in the build up to his championship debut.

In the circumstances, Sunday’s convincing 17-point triumph is a timely boost to Donoghue and his management. There is nothing like winning to keep the begrudgers at bay and though beating 14-man Westmeath, who lost defender Shane Power in the 39th minute after he injured Joe Canning in an off-the-ball incident, must be kept in perspective, at least the work ethic among the players was strong and they also went about their business in a professional manner.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.