Murphy's marvels stun the Cats with magnificent show

THE Galway minor hurling team’s outstanding victory over Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final at Croke Park on Sunday, confirmed Galway as the most consistently successful county at producing and moulding All-Ireland winning U18 hurling teams this decade.Manager Mattie Murphy’s charges’ accomplished and polished win against the cats in Dublin on the biggest day of the country’s hurling calendar, has secured Galway’s title as the undisputed minor kingpins of the decade.Coming into this clash, Kilkenny had annexed three minor titles (2002, 2003, 2008) since the turn of the millennium while Galway also had three (2000, 2004, 2005) and so it was being a real showdown of the two most consistent minor counties of the decade.Afterwards there was no disputing whose day and decade this was, as Galway, driven on by towering performances from captain Richie Cummins, Davy Glennon and Daithi Burke in particular, emerged with a 2-15 to 2-11 victory and their reputations enhanced.In doing so, Galway claimed their eighth minor All-Ireland title – double the amount of senior titles – and their first minor championship since 2005.Last year, Kilkenny committed one of the worst cases of daylight robbery ever seen at GAA HQ after escaping with an unlikely 3-6 to 0-13 win when substitute Danny Purcell came on late in the game and scored 1-1 in the dying moments to snatch victory.