Tribesmen tumble out of title race after loss to fired-up Dubs

Dublin 3-19

Galway 0-24

WE are still in a state of shock; struggling to come to terms with Galway hurlers’ earliest championship exit since falling to Clare in 1965 during the county’s decade of torment in Munster.

Adding to the sense of disbelief is that just six days earlier, Galway had finally thrown off the shackles of mediocrity which had dogged them all year with a rousing win over Kilkenny by storming their Nowlan Park fortress – the first time any team had done so in 70 years.

Sadly, that feelgood factor barely lasted a week as the Tribesmen sensationally crashed out of the championship on scoring difference at Parnell Park on Saturday evening after coming up short in a raw and bruising contest against a fired-up Dublin.

Topping the standings and unbeaten heading into the final series of round-robin Leinster championship ties, Galway’s destiny was in their own hands and even if they lost to the Dubs, the men in maroon still had the relative safety net of any result other than in a draw at Wexford Park on the same evening keeping their campaign alive.

The odds were on Galway’s side but, unfortunately, those two unlikely scenarios unfolded leaving despairing supporters in a daze departing Donnycarney on Saturday night. In one swoop, it was over. The team which had won the All-Ireland title just two years ago and lost the 2018 final by a point was gone.

Ultimately, Galway buckled under the strain of trying to cope with Dublin’s sheer physicality and aggression in becoming the first big casualty of the summer. This was a throwback to old-style, no-holds barred hurling before a near full-house in a claustrophobic cauldron.

Galway never backed away from their hosts’ intensity, but they couldn’t land any knock-out blows in a riveting battle. Once again, they failed to find the net although losing Conor Whelan to a shoulder injury in the second quarter was an obvious blow.

The officiating of Cathal McAllister did Galway no favours either. In the opening seconds, Dublin goalkeeper Alan Nolan looked to have taken out Adrian Tuohey in the square, but there was no penalty while blatant second-half fouls on Darren Morrissey and Aidan Harte were ignored. Furthermore, there was no sanction against Dublin when Padraic Mannion was the victim of a head-high challenge near the break.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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