Late heroics will count for nothing unless job finished – Cunningham

GALWAY boss Anthony Cunningham has insisted his charges stirring comeback from a 10-point deficit late on will mean nothing if they do not defeat Kilkenny in the Leinster SHC semi-final replay in Tullamore this Saturday evening.

With only minutes left on the clock, and trailing 3-20 to 2-13, it seemed the Tribesmen were destined for the qualifiers. A scoring burst though, which saw them out-shoot their rivals by 3-3 to 0-2 in an epic conclusion to the contest, secured them another opportunity to claim a place in the provincial decider.

Despite this, Cunningham has urged caution. “We did [finish strong] but Kilkenny had already done the damage and that is something we will look long and hard at this week. The draw means nothing to us, being honest, until we beat these guys in a replay. That is what is there for us to fight for on Saturday.

“So, what we will be telling the players is very clear and it is a simple message – and it is a simple message to the supporters as well – we have got to keep our feet on the ground. It was a tremendous comeback but it means nothing unless we are ahead at the final whistle on Saturday.”

Still, there could be no getting away from what Galway achieved. Few teams overcome a 10-point deficit with time almost up – and certainly not against a top quality outfit like Kilkenny. “It was a tremendous finish,” acknowledged Cunningham.

“I suppose, when we got the first goal you were hoping you might get one more. Then when it went to three points with the second there was two minutes left and it was a case of getting the ball up there once more! They were in trouble really when we got it into Johnny Glynn, Joe Canning and Niall Burke.

“We spoke about it at half-time that there were goals there. We would be disappointed that halfway through the second half they scored 1-2 or 1-3 in a couple of minutes and they put the game really out of our reach for a period. That is what Kilkenny do though.”

Indeed, when Kilkenny blitzed Galway with an unanswered 1-8 between the 54th and 63rd minutes, it appeared all of the Westerners’ fine work up to this point – the sides were on level terms after the first quarter, half-time and third quarter – had been undone.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.