Whelan’s heroics not enough to bail Galway out of trouble

Wexford 1-23

Galway 0-23

GALWAY’s tenth attempt to retain the National League hurling title for the first time since the competition was inaugurated ninety years ago again ended in failure after a resurgent Wexford team finished in a blaze of glory on home turf last Saturday.

This quarter-final against the fired-up Slaneysiders was never going to be easy for Galway, but being reduced to 14-man in the second-half and a curious tactical approach to counteracting the opposition’s sweeper system only served to increase the odds of the league champions falling at Wexford Park.

To see David Burke stranded in the full forward line for much of the opening half and Joe Canning operating, to all intents and purposes, as an auxiliary centre back contributed to marginalising both players on a day Jack Coyne gained some unwelcome notoriety for his dismissal for an off-the-ball incident on his debut.

Coyne, who was one of five Galway players booked in a physical encounter prior to his sending off on a straight red card, was surprisingly asked to patrol around midfield in the context of his complete inexperience at this level and it did the young Castlegar player few favours.

In a nutshell, Galway didn’t help themselves and when you factor in some poor wides in a match total of 12 and a defensive tendency to foul, particularly when ran at, it says much for the team’s overall heart and the strong contribution of several individuals that it still took all of Wexford’s time to better them.

Though Johnny Coen and Cathal Mannion were central to Galway’s resistance – they shared six points from play between them – and Canning’s ten-point haul from placed balls also ensured they were always in the hunt, it was Conor Whelan more than anyone else who really threatened to derail Wexford’s league ambitions.

Full report in this week’s Connacht Tribune.