Galway turn on the style in preserving Division One status

Date Published: 25-Apr-2012

Galway 4-21Dublin 0-19

STEPHEN GLENNON AT O’MOORE PARK

GALWAY maintained their top flight status for another year after producing a mesmerising second half display that yielded 3-10 in this ‘do or die’ National Hurling League Division 1A relegation play-off replay at O’Moore Park, Portlaoise on Saturday.

Second half goals from Joe Canning, Davy Glennon and David Burke lay the foundation for the 14-point victory over a Dublin side that finished their league campaign without a single win – incredible, given Anthony Daly’s men had entered this competition as reigning champions.

Still, Galway showed that when they are in the mood for destruction, their wrecking ball is as lethal as the next and goals from Canning and Glennon on 51 and 55 minutes respectively demolished Dublin’s aspirations of remaining in Division 1A for another year.

As expected, though, Dublin did not go down without a fight and they must surely have asked themselves at the half-time break just how could they be trailing the Tribesmen on a 1-11 to 0-13 scoreline? For all intents and purposes, they had the better of the exchanges in that opening 35 minutes and with corner forward Paul Ryan proving deadly accurate from placed balls, they led for the opening 23 minutes.

In this time, Ryan hit four points while midfielder Martin Quilty – only in to replace the suspended Alan McCrabbe – ran amok in the centre of the park and tallied three superb points. Conor McCormack also got his name on the scoresheet in this productive Dublin spell when registering the league champions’ third point although, interestingly, it must be noted that Dublin’s three opening scores all came from Galway defensive blunders.

In any event, the Westerners kept in touch during this opening period through some fine marksmanship from Joe Canning (two frees), Niall Burke (2), man of the match Damien Hayes and midfielder Iarla Tannian but it was somewhat worrying that most of those scores were individually created out of nothing rather than derived from fluid team-play.

Also, the Galway defence in this time were all over the place while throughout the team they struggled – more than Dublin – to deal with the sandy condition of the pitch, which looked more like the beaches in the opening sequences of the movie ‘Saving Private Ryan’ rather than a GAA field. In any event, it certainly caused problems for players lifting the sliotar first time, particularly those clad in the maroon and white.

However, when Canning went low with a 20-metre free to net the victors opening goal on 23 minutes, the tone of the contest seemed to change. Yes, Dublin responded with a McCormack point and would take a two-point lead minutes later – following further efforts from Ryan (free),an unmarked John McCaffrey and David Treacy – but Galway were beginning to stir.

In a hectic three minutes or so before the break, Galway outscored Dublin four points to one to take an unlikely lead. David Burke, who has really established himself as a pivotal figure during this league campaign, shot two of those points while Glennon and Canning tallied the remainder.

For more, read this week's Connacht Tribune.