Nightmare start spells the end for Galway U20’s

GALWAY’S dream of U20 All-Ireland glory was extinguished before it had an opportunity to catch fire in Longford on Saturday, as a physically imposing Dublin hit the Tribesmen for 2-1 in the opening six minutes of this All-Ireland semi-final to quench any hope of a victory for Padraic Joyce’s outfit.

To their credit, Galway did recover from this early setback and 11 minutes into the second half they had levelled up the game at 1-9 to 2-6. The momentum appeared to be with them.

However, so much energy and effort were expended in reeling the Dubs back in that when it came to furthering their challenge down the home straight, they had nothing left in the tank as the Dubs ran out 2-14 to 1-10 winners.

As keen as Dublin started the game, they finished the contest even stronger, outscoring Galway by eight points to one in the closing 20 minutes of action. The Connacht champions simply had no answer to the power, pace and brawn of an impressive Dublin side.

Had Galway not fallen victim to the start they had, could they have won this? That is difficult to say. Certainly, Joyce and his management team will take many learnings away from this, particularly in terms of their kickouts and the turnovers they needlessly coughed up.

Around the middle of the park, Galway, despite the best efforts of midfielder Matthias Barrett, were overpowered by three Dublin giants, namely midfielders Peadar Ó Cofaigh Byrne and Donal Ryan and centre-half forward Karl Lynch Bissett.

In addition to securing the majority of Dublin’s own kickouts, they also plundered a plethora of Galway’s; while the Dubs’ physicality in open play also caused a beleaguered Galway team a great deal of trouble for. Forced into numerous turnovers when distributing due to the pressure they came under, Galway were also stripped of possession in the tackle on too many occasions.

See full report and reaction in Connacht Tribune Sport.