Minors fly out of the blocks to get campaign off to ideal start

Galway 3-16

Kilkenny 2-16

MIDWAY through this gripping All-Ireland minor hurling quarter-final round-robin tie at Croke Park on Sunday, we were tempted to hail Galway as one of the best teams ever seen at this level; 18 minutes later we were wondering would they even win the match.

It summed up the wild swings in fortunes which saw the boys in maroon surrender a 12-point lead – established by some swashbuckling and fluid hurling – only to rally bravely against the odds in repeating last year’s All-Ireland final victory over Kilkenny.

In essence, Galway had to win the game twice. Initially, doubts about their ability to hit the ground running on their championship debut against a team which was playing its seventh competitive game were swept aside in breathtaking style. Brian Hanley’s young charges were a joy to watch as they made the Cats look second-raters.

Ironically, Kilkenny’s hectic schedule – this was their third game in a fortnight – left them looking fatigued and clumsy for much of the opening-half only for the Leinster finalists to admirably haul themselves back into the contest by an unexpected third-quarter surge, highlighted by a brace of goals from impressive substitute Ian Byrne

Gradually, they reeled in opponents who had been coasting, but Kilkenny had to expend a lot of effort in retrieving such a big deficit and, it was no surprise, that Galway would eventually get a second wind down the home stretch, with the smart use of the substitutes bench helping to swing the contest back in their favour.

The bush telegraph had suggested the latest edition of Galway minor hurlers were at least as talented as some previous All-Ireland winning teams from the county, but still the level of their dominance in the opening 30 minutes was surprising. All over the field, their hurling was sharper and crisper, with the ability of several forwards to win high ball – notably Tiernan Killeen and the outstanding Greg Thomas – having the Cats in all sorts of trouble.

Though Kilkenny were first on the scoreboard with a Billy Drennan free, Galway didn’t take long to build up a head of steam. Thomas, Gavin Lee and Seán McDonagh picked off quality points before an angled delivery by Killeen was excellently finished to the net by Thomas after breaking free from Peter McDonald in the seventh minute.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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