Galway silence the critics with display of pure heart

ALL it takes sometimes is one game to ignite a team. Galway hurlers, who had been so publically ridiculed by former manager Ger Loughnane, got their own back with interest in Thurles on Sunday. Having been the target of cheap shots and unwarranted attacks on their character since the Leinster Final, Galway simply had to draw a line in the sand.

It was time to stand up and fight, and those men wearing the maroon jerseys at Semple Stadium hurled up a storm in retrieving their reputations. Bodies were put on the line; lost causes were chased; and the Galway players brought a new sense of steel to their play. Clare nearly buckled from the off and were unsuccessfully playing catch up all day.

There were moments in the game when Galway were under pressure, but each time they came up with the answers. It was as if the players looked into their souls and found the necessary levels of resolution and aggression that they are not supposed to possess. Their physicality had the Banner on the retreat and magnificently led by team captain David Burke, the Tribesmen displayed the kind of form which has carried them to two All-Ireland finals in the past four years.

Up to last Sunday, however, 2016 had the potential to be a write off for Galway. Relegated to Division 1b in the league after just a solitary victory and fading badly late on in the Leinster Final, it was becoming increasingly difficult to defend the team from charges of woeful inconsistency from year to year. Facing Clare in Thurles, Galway had no place to hide and, it is to their credit, that they met that challenge head on.

In retrospect, Loughnane’s outbursts were required to remind the Galway players of their responsibilities to the maroon jersey. Their talent is plain to see, but they needed to dig in and display resolve when things weren’t running their way. They weren’t found wanting against Clare and with the admittedly surprising call up of Adrian Tuohy proving an inspired move, it was obvious from the start that they were in the zone.

In the context of the outcome, the goals from Conor Cooney and Joe Canning were critical, but Galway supporters will have been proud of the way their team went about its business. Their players were winning most of the individual battles, while Aidan Harte was thriving in the loose man role. The magnificent Daithí Burke was going to the clouds; David Burke was a colossus in midfield; Canning couldn’t get enough work; and goalkeeper Colm Callanan underlined why he is a current All Star.

Furthermore, John Hanbury, Padraig Mannion, Gearóid McInerney and Tuohy were unrelenting in repeatedly closing down the Clare forwards, while Johnny Coen justified his move to midfield with several telling thrusts. Joseph Cooney picked off two important points, but he was prepared to work as well. They all were. As a statement of intent for the rest of the summer, Tipperary and even Kilkenny will have being concerned by what they saw.