13-man Galway defy odds in securing early season boost

Wexford 0-20

YOU normally wouldn’t get too animated about winning the Walsh Cup in the third week of January, but Galway’s triumph in Enniscorthy on Sunday can be upgraded several notches due to their defiance of the odds in more ways than one.

Having to make the long journey to Wexford and take on a formidable looking home team meant a seriously experimental Galway were up against it in the first place, but when you throw in the fact that they had to operate at a numerical disadvantage for half the match, eventually emerging victorious was some feat in the circumstances.

If anything, the line-up Galway had on duty appeared significantly weaker – at least, on paper – than the one which had held off Dublin’s late challenge the previous weekend and when Padraic Mannion and newcomer Jarlath Mannion were dismissed in separate incidents at the end of the first half, it was difficult to see how the Tribesmen could survive.

Admittedly, it was already evident that Galway were up for the battle, but being reduced to 13 players ought to have proven too much of a handicap to overcome even if Wexford had also lost Liam Ryan to a red card in the melee where Padraic Mannion also got his walking papers.

Having beaten Kilkenny at the same venue seven days earlier, Wexford appeared to have been handed a golden opportunity of retaining the Walsh Cup, but they ultimately lacked Galway’s tenacity or resolve on a day they had few answers to the inspirational Joe Canning.

With goalkeeper Fergal Flannery, who made a couple of superb reflex saves, unlikely goal-scorer Aidan Harte, and Cathal Mannion, who lofted over four points from play for the second week running, also making incalculable contributions, Galway ended up providing a positive statement of intent for the season ahead in claiming the county’s third Walsh Cup.

Overall, you couldn’t but be impressed by the work ethic of the men in maroon. Though the opposition’s extra man obviously made life difficult at times, Galway compensated by intelligent use of possession and an admirable defiant streak which really knocked Wexford off their stride.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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