Inside Track
Kilkenny will still be up for it despite absent Cody
THEY will be a strange sight in Thurles on Sunday – a Kilkenny hurling team without their long serving manager Brian Cody patrolling the sideline. But don’t assume for one minute that it will make Galway’s task any easier in the second of the National League semi-finals. In fact, the Cats will probably have an extra cause to carry the day as their team boss recovers from recent cardiac treatment.
Cody has been the off-field inspiration behind Kilkenny’s unprecedented modern-day dominance of hurling. Winning nine All-Ireland titles over 13 years, the reigning title holders have been a cut above the chasing pack during that period. Their overall quality, team-work, intensity and savage hunger has combined to make them virtually unbeatable – and they still want more.
But without Cody’s tactical acumen, ruthlessness and imposing personality, it’s doubtful if Kilkenny would have even snared half the silverware they have accumulated since the James Stephens clubman took over in 1999. He has been the driving force behind their continued dominance; demanding standards never slipped; and adopting a zero tolerance approach to players who have got too big for their boots. Egos and Cody have always been uncomfortable bedfellows.
It’s reported that even some of Kilkenny’s most seasoned and decorated performers are still ‘half- afraid’ of their manager, but whatever the dynamic between Cody and his squad, the mutual respect is obvious. He rarely gets it wrong on the line either, with his calling up of Walter Walsh, a player who hadn’t one minute of senior championship hurling behind him, proving a masterstroke in last year’s All-Ireland final replay against Galway.
It takes balls to place such thrust in an unproven 21-year-old for such a high stakes match, but Cody has always had the courage of his convictions and his judgement is regularly vindicated. Having seen him up close and personally on the sideline when his team might be in some trouble, the Kilkenny boss can be cranky and verbally hard on his players. He knows what they are capable of and hates to see individuals not realising their potential on a day to day basis. He also despises losing.
Against that background, you’d might expect that Kilkenny might be somewhat vulnerable on Sunday without their commander-in-chief, but their will want to honour their absent manager with a display laced with typical power and commitment. Deep down, the likes of Jackie Tyrell, JJ Delaney, Tommy Walsh, Eoin Larkin and Aidan Fogarty know they wouldn’t have won so much only for Cody being in their corner. They will be desperately keen to repay him in some way for the years of loyalty and slavish devotion against Galway.
Furthermore, Kilkenny have a score to settle with the Tribesmen since the opening round of the league. On the day, they were arguably the better team but three goals from Davy Glennon, Niall Healy and Damien Hayes saw the home team get the verdict on a 3-11 to 0-17 scoreline. When the Cats also lost their second outing to Tipperary, it even sparked some loose talk about relegation but, unsurprisingly, they regrouped with hard earned wins over Waterford, Clare and Cork respectively in defence of their league crown.
This will be the counties’ seventh meeting (including last year’s Walsh Cup) in around 15 months and Kilkenny hold a 3-2 edge, with one draw. That level of familiarity should ensure no shortage of spice between the teams in Semple Stadium, but Galway’s need for victory is surely greater given that they need every competitive match they can get considering their free passport into the Leinster final in early July.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Inside Track with John McIntyre
SOMETHING very odd happened to Tyrone in the Ulster championship in early April. On their home turf of Healy Park, they were doing nearly everything expected of them when leading Monaghan by five points at half-time. You couldn’t say for definite that the match was done and dusted, but the 2021 All-Ireland champions were in pole position.
You would have expected them to drive on against an honest if limited Monaghan outfit. Instead, Tyrone didn’t score for the opening 16 minutes of the second-half and in an enthralling finale, were left stunned by defender Ryan’s Toole’s stoppage-time goal snatching the honours for the Farney men on a 2-17 to 1-18 scoreline.
A couple of weeks later, Monaghan themselves had exited the Ulster title race when Derry comfortably got the better of them (1-21 to 2-10), leaving us more puzzled than ever by Tyrone’s dramatic decline since overcoming Mayo to claim Sam barely 20 months previously. Last year, they crashed out of Ulster by 11 points to Derry and subsequently came up six short against Armagh in the All-Ireland qualifiers.
Against that background, their recent loss to Monaghan shouldn’t have come as a surprise, but it did. Tyrone may have made a shambolic defence of the All-Ireland title, but there is still a lot of quality in their ranks. They have an adventurous ‘keeper in Niall Morgan, while the long-serving Peter Harte, Darragh Canavan, Darren McCurry, Cathal McShane, Conor Meyler, Mattie Donnelly, and Conn Kilpatrick are all top-class performers when in the mood.
There’s hardly been a word about them for the past six weeks. Tyrone are lying low, desperately trying to rediscover the verve and cohesion which took them all the way in 2021. Their pride is on the line. It makes them dangerous opponents for Galway in the opening round of All-Ireland group matches at Pearse Stadium on Saturday.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Inside Track with John McIntyre
GALWAY footballers won’t get much credit for their easy victory over Sligo in Sunday’s Connacht Final in Castlebar, but when a team achieves something that hasn’t been done for 20 years, perhaps we should be a little more appreciative of the Tribesmen retaining the JJ Nestor Cup for the first time in two decades.
To be honest, if Galway were to live up to their standing as serious All-Ireland contenders, they needed to be doing a number on Sligo. In this year’s National League, the counties were three divisions apart and though Tony McEntee’s team achieved promotion and were on a nine-match unbeaten run, a serious rise in class faced them at MacHale Park.
Granted, Sligo made a bright start with three points in the opening five minutes from Pat Spillane, Sean Carrabine and the accurate Darragh Cummins, but they would only manage two more by the break despite having the wind behind them. Though wing back Luke Towey was catching the eye with his runs up-field, Galway rarely looked under pressure.
Sligo were bravely committing numbers to the middle third, which meant they were a little light in numbers around their own posts. They couldn’t afford to lose possession coming out of their own half, but that’s what happened in the build up to Galway’s second goal. Damien Comer overturned Cian Lally and from his counter-attack, Matthew Tierney expertly finished to the net at the near post.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Inside Track with John McIntyre
IS the Leinster hurling championship something of a sham compared to its Munster counterpart? Everybody knows who will end up in the provincial final in the east, but nobody knows the two teams who will feature in the ultimate battle for supremacy down south.
All-Ireland champions Limerick aren’t guaranteed to even make it out of the province, never mind reach the Munster final, after their narrow loss to Clare in Saturday evening’s epic at the Gaelic Grounds. Everything is still on the line for the five counties involved, although Waterford are again under serious pressure after losing their opening two matches.
In Leinster, there is little of that drama. Galway and Kilkenny are miles ahead of the rest; the only thing at stake is whether Dublin or Wexford – they meet in Croke Park on Saturday – will be the third team to emerge for the All-Ireland series. It’s a game which is hard to call. Wexford are going backwards while Dublin look callow as Micheál Donoghue is trying to build the nucleus of a new team.
Though Antrim are improving – they held the Dubs to a draw and only lost to Wexford by four points – the men from the Glens would be out of their depth in Munster; while Westmeath are proving cannon-fodder for everyone else. Since Galway headed east in 2009, they have clashed with Kilkenny in seven Leinster finals and another showdown is inevitable next month.
In contrast, every match in Munster is virtually do-or die. When Clare rolled into Limerick last Saturday, they knew another defeat after losing to Tipperary in the opening round would leave them on the precipice of exiting the championship. There’s a real dog-eat-dog appeal about all the games. In Leinster, there are two big hounds, and the rest are chihuahuas.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
