Galway have no answer to Wexford class
Date Published: {J}
Eoghan Cormicanat Croke Park
Out-fought, out-muscled, out-hurled and quite simply outclassed. There can be no recriminations or excuses from the Galway camp this week where, despite a brave second half effort, they fell someway short in their bid to secure only the county’s second ever O’Duffy Cup.
A final scoreline that left Galway just two in arrears of the Model County does scant justice to Wexford’s superiority on the day, reflected by their unrelenting dominance in every sector. Indeed, it would not be wide of the mark to suggest that it was also injudicious to Galway’s lethargic showing where they played second fiddle to an outstanding Wexford outfit.
Even so, heartache and devastation engulfed the Galway girls at the sounding of the full time whistle, fervent hopes of eclipsing past setbacks lay in tatters on the turf of Croke Park. For many it was an agonising second loss in three years, for others a fourth All-Ireland defeat.
However, it would be unfair to Wexford to suggest Galway were unlucky on Sunday last. To be honest, Galway were nowhere near good enough to claim the spoils this time around. The simple tale of tape is that Wexford capitalised on their goal opportunity just before half time, whereas Galway in contrast could only find the net with a minute remaining on the clock.
Goals were desperately needed to give their second half revival real impetus, but instead, they had to rely on the dead ball accuracy of Aislinn Connolly to remain in touch. In fairness, Galway did manage green flag openings but on both occasions were denied by ‘keeper Mags D’Arcy. No doubt, the one that will stand out will be Gill’s miss as it came from a penalty following a foul on the Galway full forward.
That said, when it came to the crunch last Sunday, the Galway forward division failed to perform and it wasn’t because of any failure to win a decent share of possession in the second half. If some of the bigger names in the Galway attack carried only half the heart shown by inspirational wing back Niamh Kilkenny, the final outcome could have been so much different. But then again, it wasn’t the first time Galway’s marquee players went hiding when the occasion demanded.
The reality is that only Niamh Kilkenny and to a lesser extent sister Orla and Aislinn Connolly produced the type of display required to overcome Wexford.
Quite incredibly, only one of the six starting Galway forwards scored from play, bringing Galway’s total to a measly three points, an absolutely shocking return by any standards. That score arrived courtesy of Veronica Curtin in the 54th minute, but compounding matters is the statistic that only half of the attacking unit lasted the 60 minutes.
Michelle O’Leary and provider Una Lacey linked almost telepathically for the game’s opening score, while at the other end Castlegar’s Aislinn Connolly ended a near quarter hour barren spell for Galway when converting a 30 metre free.
For more, read this week's Connacht Tribune.