Galway lay down the law

Galway 2-22Cork 1-17

STEPHEN GLENNONAT SEMPLE STADIUM

OPENING-half goals from Portumna duo Damien Hayes and Joe Canning set Galway on the road to their ninth National Hurling League title as the Tribesmen dismantled aristocrats Cork in an utterly absorbing decider played at Semple Stadium, Thurles on Sunday evening.

From the moment Damien Hayes merrily danced his way through the Cork cover to net a sublime goal on just two minutes until the closing stages, when substitute Joe Gantley fired over two neat points from play, Galway looked assured, composed and in command.

Indeed, for the most part, they dictated the nature of this contest with varying amounts of skill, speed and controlled aggression; the latter of which has certainly been developed and harnessed with much success under the current management team.

Too often in the recent past, Galway have fallen victim to the physicality of other teams. However, under John McIntyre’s stewardship, particularly this year, the Tribesmen have proven that there is plenty of steel in this side.

Thankfully, Galway’s stylish brand of hurling has not suffered because of that, underlined by the two dozen fine scores they amassed on the day from their two midfielders, six starting forwards and, of course, substitute Gantley.

If the offensive players, though, showed a keen eye for the target up front, then credit to the Galway defence and goalkeeper Colm Callanan for their unerring commitment and downright stubbornness at the back.

Simply, their contribution was as pivotal to this Galway victory as the scores on the board, with captain and man of the match Shane Kavanagh denying Cork’s target man Asaike Ó hAilpín a sniff of possession before later tying up the Leesiders’ other twin tower Michael Cussen when he was moved in to the edge of the square. 

Either side of Kavanagh, corner men Damien Joyce and Ollie Canning dealt more than adequately with the threat posed by their opponents, Patrick Horgan – Cork’s top scorer in the league – and former All-Star Ben O’Connor, while behind the full-back line, netminder Callanan pulled off a plethora of smart saves, which included a double on just 17 minutes when Tom Kenny and Cathal Naughton both went for the jugular.

If the Cork full-forward line found the going tough inside, then the half-forward unit fared little better. Castlegar’s Donal Barry was excellent in his handling of Cork’s most dangerous forward on the day, Cathal Naughton, holding the speedster to just two scores.

On the opposite wing, right-half back David Collins had a titanic tussle with Cussen. Although the imposing wing-forward – who tallied two fine points in the first half – did pose a few problems initially, the Liam Mellows man soon got the measure of his opponent and out-hurled him until the latter was moved into the inside line.

For more, read this week's Connacht Tribune.