Laboured Galway just about get away with poor effort

Inside Track with John McIntyre

YOU’D just wonder did the Galway senior hurling team management take their eye off the ball in the build up to last Sunday’s Leinster semi-final against Portlaoise? Fighting an untimely and arguably ill-advised boardroom battle in relation to local fixtures just days before their championship debut smacked of a little desperation and must have, at least, proven a distraction for both the mentors and players alike.

Though the camp had been hit by some injuries, it was still surprising that Anthony Cunningham tried for a second time to have the next round of the Galway senior hurling championship deferred. Clubs had already rejected the team management’s original appeal the previous month and were unlikely to have moved their position dramatically in the interim. Naturally, there was no shortage of sympathy from officials and delegates, but the anxiety to avoid a return to the frustrating days of idle summers for club players was always going to be the over-riding concern.

Furthermore, a major plank of the extensive review of Galway hurling in the winter of 2011 was for the county championship not to be sacrificed on the altar of inter-county preparations. Had club delegates acceded to the team’s management’s request last week, the credibility of that report would have been torn to shreds. In the end, sanity prevailed despite Cunningham being backed up in Athenry last week by team mentors Mattie Kenny and Tom Helebert.

Unfortunately, injuries are part and parcel of sport. Kilkenny were without Michael Fennelly and Henry Shefflin against Offaly, while Cork have a big casualty list, headed by Paudie O’Sullivan, ahead of Sunday’s big test against Clare. Both counties have taken those blows on the chin and so should have Galway. Everybody with an interest in hurling in the county was more focused early last week on what was going to happen with the local championship rather than the team’s prospects against Laois. It couldn’t have helped the focus of the Galway players either.

Yet, that’s hardly an excuse for the team’s laboured showing against the admittedly well-drilled Midlanders whose defensive set up caused the Tribesmen no shortage of tactical difficulty. Laois packed their own half of the field, tackled like demons, relied on long range shooting and brought an intensity to the action which seemed to catch Galway by surprise. When Tommy Fitzgerald finished off a well taken move in the 56th minute, the home team had regained the lead and the prospect of one of hurling’s greatest ever shocks was back on the agenda.

Almost immediately, however, Galway settled their nerves when Davy Glennon was in the right place to finish the rebound of Eoin Reilly’s save from Joe Canning. They still had to endure some more anxious moments, but Aonghus Callanan’s green flag in the 64th minute finally gave the visitors some breathing space. It was all Callanan’s own work too, expertly controlling a long James Skehill puck out before escaping the clutches of the Laois defence. His low shot may have only trickled over the line but, at least, the Liam Mellows player was prepared to have a go. In contrast, for much of the match, many of his team-mates just couldn’t break free of the Laois shackles.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.