Inside Track
No spark as hurlers brushed aside with alarming ease
Inside Track with John McIntyre
THE worrying levels of pre-match negative murmurings were, unfortunately, not misplaced. An unsettled Galway team which had been struggling all year for a consistent level of form had their limitations brutally exposed by a rampant and far sharper Dublin outfit in a free-flowing Leinster final at Croke Park last Sunday.
12 months ago, Joe Canning and company had blitzed Kilkenny in the performance of the championship and though many of those same players were on duty again for a second consecutive provincial decider, most of the swashbuckling hurling came from their opponents this time. There is no arguing with Sunday’s heavy loss by a dozen points.
Though some local critics might have seen the result coming, few would have envisaged that Galway could be so far off the pace and in such serious trouble in a multitude of positions. Dublin, much hungrier, working harder and performing with greater intensity, were in a different league for much of the contest with their forwards cutting the Tribesmen defence to ribbons at will. Conal Keaney, the robust Ryan O’Dwyer, Dotsy O’Callaghan and, in particular, Paul Ryan went to town.
It wasn’t as if Galway were caught napping from the throw in and had to chase a big early deficit. The teams were on level terms at four points each after 12 minutes, but from there on Dublin took over with their team work and ability to engineer space up front often leaving the Leinster champions chasing shadows. They again went with a five-man attack and though Galway initially employed Johnny Coen as their sweeper, their backline was regularly exposed.
With Ryan netting a preventable goal in the 24th minute, Dublin had already laid down a big marker. Midfielders John McCaffery and Joey Boland were quick to establish a foothold in that sector, so much so that the Galway management felt obliged to call James Regan ashore, seconds after scoring a fine point, long before the interval. Two more changes were made for the second-half as Anthony Cunningham was forced to carry out some desperate fire-fighting.
Trailing by 1-12 to 0-7 at half-time, Galway were in a big hole and when Ryan fired home a screamer in the 41st minute to stretch their advantage to 2-14 to 0-9, last year’s All-Ireland finalists were staring a humiliation in the face. To the team’s credit, however, they staged a spirited rally, highlighted by two cracking individual goals from Joe Canning, again their most influential player, and David Burke and just into the final quarter, there was now only six points between the teams.
Sadly, that was as good as it got for Galway. Dublin steadied themselves and reeled off six unanswered points with substitutes Conor McCormack and Simon Lambert also making their presence felt on the scoreboard as Anthony Daly’s team charged to the county’s first Leinster title since 1961. It was great day for Dublin hurling, but a bad one for Galway who simply lacked the winners’ match-practice and desire, while a number of players, including team captain Fergal Moore and Iarla Tannian, are struggling to regain their outstanding form of 2012.
To make matters worse, Galway had too many square pegs in round holes. Johnny Coen, Shane Kavanagh, their one defender who managed to hold his own, Joseph Cooney, Regan, David Burke and Niall Burke were all selected in positions in which they are not most associated with at club level, while proven Portumna duo, Andy Smith and Damien Hayes, who both gave the team some impetus after being introduced, were surprising absentees from the starting line up.
In the contest of a rearguard which conceded 27 scores and was fortunate not have been hit for more, it defied logic that it was further up the field that the team management was carrying out all the surgery until replacing Cooney in the 63rd minute. By that stage, the damage had been well and truly done as Kevin Hynes and Moore were repeatedly exposed in the last line of defence, although the ease in which the Dublin outfield players were able to find Ryan and Callaghan reflected the lack of pressure that they were being put under.
Furthermore, James Skehill will be disappointed to have been beaten for Dublin’s opening goal in a defensive sector which simply couldn’t cope with the opposition’s pace and movement. Several Galway players were also caught in possession and though the team is bound to improve for last Sunday’s outing. morale can’t be great after this drubbing. On club form alone, Ardrahan’s Jonathan Glynn ought to have won a starting place, but the team’s problems were much bigger than any individual selections.
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.
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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.
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