Wipe out of a year as shapeless hurlers implode again

THE sense of fatalism when the Galway senior hurlers travel to Thurles for big games will only have increased after the county’s latest flop at Semple Stadium.

Over the years, it’s a venue which generally hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for the Tribesmen and one that evokes bad memories for supporters. And sadly, once again, there is nothing but grief and disappointment from the latest trip to Tipperary.

It’s like as though last year never happened. The vigour, vitality and confidence which was then running through the veins of the Galway hurlers has been conspicuous by its absence in 2013. The ominous signs had been there all year, but we tried to ignore the stockpile of disjointed displays in the belief that a big performance was in them when it would be most needed. Last Sunday was that occasion, but the men in maroon again flunked the pressure test.

Only for two breakaway and against the run of play second-half goals, Galway could have been trounced by a team they had wiped out by 17 points two years ago. It doesn’t make sense, but a measure of their collapse in form since the 2012 All-Ireland final is highlighted by the fact that they have lost their last three big championships outings against Kilkenny, Dublin and Clare by a combined total of 28 points. There is no arguing with that statistic and, in between, they flirted with humiliation against Laois.

Where has it all gone wrong? Undoubtedly, both the management and players have lost their way, but Galway shouldn’t be this poor. Unfortunately, when expectations increase about the hurling pioneers from the West, they tend to disintegrate and don’t measure up to even their own standards. Since letting Kilkenny somewhat off the hook in early September last year, they have now lost six of their last ten competitive matches. It’s a freefall, pure and simple.

We had hoped that the Leinster final would have sharpened up Galway’s hurling and helped the team mentors to sort out their best 15. There was also closed door training sessions and some straight talking in the interim, but six changes in personnel and some positional alterations as well just served to underline how unsettled Galway really were ahead of their ‘do or die’ clash with Clare. And by the 59th minute of Sunday’s quarter-final, a fifth of the team had been replaced, with three of them already gone for the start of the second-half.

It all highlighted how chaotic things have become and by how much Galway were again under-performing. The team management were engaged in desperate fire fighting – and a few of the team’s difficulties were of the sideline’s own making – but there were too many holes in the maroon bucket. They were adrift by six points at the finish and not even the most biased Galway supporter could argue it was an unjust reflection of the action.

For further analysis by John McIntyre and our reporters see this week’s Tribune here