Tribesmen are back in business after a stirring win over the Cats

Kilkenny 2-22

Galway 3-20

WHEN a team runs into form at the right time, they are dangerous . . . and Galway hurlers look like being the bolters from the pack this summer after a terrific Leinster championship triumph in Sunday’s Nowlan Park thriller.

That might seem a curious label to attach to a team which won the All-Ireland title just two years ago and also reached the 2018 final, but until their trip to Kilkenny, Galway were mired in mediocrity and struggling to build up a head of steam.

But the Tribesmen’s toils against both Carlow and Wexford were consigned to distant memory in the match of the championship so far. In a riveting struggle for supremacy, Galway showed the necessary fortitude and spirit to carry the day.

It was a contest which had everything: several magnificent individual displays – headed by TJ Reid, Cathal Mannion and Conor Whelan – a gripping finale, three dismissals, 11 yellow cards and some outrageous scoring in front of an enthralled attendance of just under 16,000.

With their backs to the wall and a growing number of local fans doubting the squad’s ability to even belatedly rediscover their normal fluency, together with the continued absence of Joe Canning, Galway were under serious pressure and with questions to answer heading to Kilkenny.

From the throw-in, however, there was a different edge to them. Players were more dynamic and, overall, the team rose to the challenge in admirable style. Not everything was perfect in a helter-skelter battle, but the result was everything and leaves the men in maroon firmly in control of their own destiny

Overall, Galway issued a timely reminder of why they had swept the boards in 2017. In inflicting a first home championship defeat on Kilkenny since Laois 70 years ago, it adds ballast to the achievement of Micheál Donoghue’s squad on Sunday.

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