Wexford will tear into Galway – but it still won’t be enough

Inside Track with John McIntyre

A championship defining ten days lies ahead of Galway’s two flagship GAA teams. The county footballers lay their Connacht title on the line against Roscommon on Sunday week, while the in-form hurlers head to Croke Park this weekend for a Leinster final showdown against resurgent Wexford.

In theory, we should know a fair bit more about the All-Ireland ambitions of both teams after their respective provincial finals, but what happens if the footballers ransack Roscommon and the hurlers wallop Wexford? Should that admittedly unlikely scenario unfold, can you imagine trying to keep a lid on the expectations of Galway supporters. Wins, rather than big wins, might be the preferable outcomes.

Goodness knows, local hurling fans are already on enough of a high after the thrashings David Burke and company have handed out to Limerick, Tipperary, Dublin and Offaly in their last four outings, already daring to believe that Galway have careered so far ahead of the chasing pack that the county’s fifth All-Ireland title is almost imminent in September.

Nothing is ever that simple with the Galway hurlers, but even their most pragmatic fans are sensing that there is something different and more compelling about Micheál Donoghue’s squad in 2017. For instance, if Kilkenny were handing out the heavy beatings that the Tribesmen have been doing over the past ten weeks, we’d nearly have the Liam McCarthy Cup already presented to them.

In one sense, it would be good for Galway to successfully come through a high intensity battle on Sunday. It would help to steel them for the challenges ahead and prevent supporters from running away with themselves. Their terrific form since the league quarter-final brooks no argument – they are currently the best team in the land, but the pressure is rising and the fixtures are becoming more demanding.

Though Galway’s consistency of late is encouraging and there are no signs that the squad isn’t weighed down by the burden of being favourites to win the All-Ireland, they are going to face a group of men on Sunday who are also on a roll and have already twice beaten Kilkenny in knock-out matches in 2017. When did another team last do that? Wexford will be fired-up and aggressive in tearing into the Tribesmen.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.