Revitalised Sarsfields show the importance to tradition

Inside Track with John McIntyre

THE value of tradition should never be under-estimated in county finals. You couldn’t argue definitively that Sarsfields were significantly the better team at Pearse Stadium last Sunday, but they were certainly the more intuitive and streetwise one in local hurling’s showpiece event.

In the context of virtually coming from nowhere to claim the club’s seventh Galway senior hurling title and fortunate to survive a fraught group campaign, Sarsfields’ greater know-how in this competitive replay may be perceived as surprising, but they are one of these teams which tend to visibly grew in stature when progressing in the title race.

Naturally, for an outfit which had zero familiarity with competing at the business end of the championship, their inexperience showed at times, especially with some wayward shooting in the second half, but the team’s inner-belief never seemed to waver on a day substitutes Sean Kelly and Kevin Cooney, in particular, made telling contributions.

Ultimately, it was Noel Kelly’s injury-time first half goal – the product of a well judged overhead connection to Niall Quinn’s long range free – which proved the critical moment of the match. That score left Sarsfields 2-6 to 0-8 ahead at the break and must have proven a demoralising blow to a Craughwell team which produced an uneven display, characterised by storming into an early 0-4 to 0-1 lead, only to then find themselves three behind before rallying to trail by just a point prior to Kelly’s green flag.

As they have been doing all year, however, Craughwell didn’t buckle in terms of spirit or energy and they had managed to reduce an early five point second half deficit to 2-8 to 0-13 by the 47th minute, even if their efforts were aided by some woeful opposition inaccuracy. Stephen Glennon’s charges now had every chance of carrying the day, but Sarsfields held their nerve with late points from Niall Morrissey (free) and Kevin Cooney (two) propelling the New Inn/Bullaun men to a first county title since 1997.

Craughwell might still have pulled off a dramatic victory, but substitute Keelan Cullinane’s handpass to the unmarked Niall Healy was over-hit and Sarsfields managed to scramble the sliotar clear and, in the process, maintain their impressive record of not conceding a goal in the knock-out stages of the championship.

In front of an official attendance of 6,183 – the crowd appeared significantly bigger – this replay was a somewhat more open encounter than the drawn struggle, but it was also less savoury. Referee Shane Hynes was forced to brandish numerous yellow cards over the hour and a couple of them could have been red. There was a nasty melee straight from the throw-in and on several occasions players were sorting each other out in off-the-ball incidents.

Obviously, neither team backed away from the physical exchanges and one player who thrived amidst all the aggression was Sarsfields captain Joseph Cooney, the most influential player on the field, and who produced the individual highlight of Sunday’s replay with a terrific and timely first-half goal after rampaging through the Craughwell cover.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.