Galway's grit not enough to fend off Waterford

 IT all unravelled so emphatically in the end that it was hard to believe Galway had managed to hang on grimly for so long as Waterford captured their first All-Ireland minor title in 65 years at Croke Park on Sunday.

Eight points separated the sides in the end, which just about reflected the superiority of the men in white, but they needed to show character in the finish to produce a late barrage of scores after encountering spirited resistance from the Galway defenders.

Truth be told, Waterford fully deserved the victory. They outscored the Tribesmen by 1-6 to 0-1 in the closing stretch after a third quarter rally from Mattie Murphy’s youngsters drew the sides level, at 0-15 each, with 46 minutes on the clock.

There was hardly a Galway person in the ground who could have claimed their side deserved to be level at that stage, after goalkeeper Cathal Tuohy had produced three superb saves – while the defenders, led brilliantly by centre back Shane Cooney, battled manfully to keep the Waterford attackers at bay.

Cooney and full-back Darragh O’Donoghue had fought heroically to stem the tide all afternoon and it was a cruel twist of fate that a momentary lapse from O’Donoghue led to the game’s decisive score with four minutes to go.

Momentum was with the Deise at that stage at any rate, and they had tagged on four points in a row to open up a decent lead before lethal full-forward Patrick Curran pounced on a short puck-out to blast home the game’s only goal.

It was only then, with a seven point lead, that the passionate Waterford supporters really began to believe they were on course for a first minor All-Ireland since 1948, even though the Tribesmen were second best throughout the hour.

Curran was one of five Waterford players who had won an All-Ireland colleges title back in April and he eased their big day jitters by slotting the opening two frees between the posts.

Galway, meanwhile, were forced to make a pre-match change, with Jack Hastings coming in to replace the injured Brian Burke. Hastings had starred after coming off the bench against Limerick in the semi-final, but his new-look midfield partnership with Sean Linnane never managed to overcome the Waterford duo, Tom Devine and Mark O’Brien. Full match report in this week's Connacht Tribune.