Galway in good company as results all over the place

IF Carlsberg were doing adverts for consistency, the giant Danish brewery would never come looking for the Galway hurlers, but at least the Tribesmen were in good company last weekend as the three opening round winners in Division 1A of the National League all bit the dust – and by the decisive margin of six points in each instance.

Galway were always going to find it a much tougher challenge away to bogey team Waterford than was the case seven days previously when dismantling an inept and somewhat disinterested Dublin, but it was still disappointing that their challenge was so readily dismissed in Walsh Park. Furthermore, some players who had starred in that league opener took a step backwards due to the marked step up in opposition intensity.

Waterford had been unlucky to fall to Tipperary in Thurles a week earlier, but they built on that solid effort against Galway with Pauric Mahony doing the lion’s share of the scoring damage in picking off 11 points, including some neat efforts from play. Physically, the home team carried as big edge and, not for the first time, also got the better of Galway tactically.

Flooding their defensive zone and patiently working the ball up the field through a combination of precise passes and intelligent off-the-ball movement, Waterford were in prime position at half-time when managing to eke out a 0-9 to 0-8 advantage despite having faced the wind on a heavy pitch. With Galway having little tradition of winning matches coming from behind, they were now facing an uphill battle to salvage a result.

Eight opening-half wides didn’t help their cause even if Conor Cooney, having one of his best outings in a Galway jersey, and Cathal Mannion, who again did his prospects no harm with a hat-trick of points, were finding the target regularly enough to keep them in the hunt. Unfortunately, the visitors were found wanting in securing primary possession and the absence of the injured Jonathan Glynn was clearly a big handicap on the day.

With Ray Barry, veteran Seamus Prendergast and Ryan Donnelly ensuring the scoring burden didn’t fall completely on the shoulders of the impressive Mahony, Waterford began to surge clear in the third quarter until stopped in their tracks in the 48th minute when young Jason Flynn availed of a defensive slip for the game’s only goal. Suddenly, Galway were back in the contest, but it proved to be a false dawn.

In the subsequent action, they could only manage two points from Cooney and Padraig Brehony, his second of the game, as Waterford began putting daylight between the teams for the second time. Mahony, Barry and Donnelly, together with substitutes Jake Dillon and Stephen Roche, all drove over points to secure a deserved victory and, in the process, maintain an imposing record against the Tribesmen.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.