Inside Track: Forget 2027: Galway must live in moment
THE assumption that, regardless of their fate in Sunday's All-Ireland Final against Limerick, Galway will be better in 2027 is a dangerous one. Just look at the fortunes of hurling's oligarchs Kilkenny, Tipperary and Cork over the past few months.
Did anyone imagine that Tipperary's All-Ireland defence would end up in flames; that Cork wouldn't make it back to the sport's ultimate battle and suffer a pasting in their final outing; or that Kilkenny would fail to emerge from Leinster for the first time since the provincial round-robin series was introduced.
No, Galway must live in the moment. Who knows how next year will pan out. Opportunities for the Tribesmen to win All-Ireland senior titles don't happen every day of the week and though the team's younger player have obviously the potential to be even better, there are no guarantees in top-flight sport.
Sure, it's a surprise that Galway stand 70-plus minutes away from bringing Liam MacCarthy back west for only the sixth time, but they have serious momentum; belief is sky-high and the team is performing to the peak of its ability.
The build-up to All-Ireland Final is like no other fixture in the GAA calendar. No matter how hard team managements tried to shield their squads from the hype and excitement, players can't become hermits or immune to the outside noise. It begs the question how will Galway's younger generation cope with the extra spotlight and pressure?
Nobody can be certain and the fact that it's Limerick in the oppostion corner makes one even guarded about predicting another maroon explosion on Sunday similar to their last two outings against Dublin and Cork. Though the Shannonsiders have fallen over the past two years, their shadow still hangs over the hurling championship.
Could this be one last stand for a fabled team seeking a sixth All-Ireland title in nine years? Limerick has never known such a bountiful harvest, but the county desperately wants one more and their players will empty themselves in pursuit of that objective. But so many of them are still around from their breakthrough triumph in 2018, you just wonder what's left in the locker.
Winning a record-breaking sixth Munster title on the trot took some doing and this team has gone to the wire so many times that a day will come when the legs and minds slow down. There are signs of it already, but the Limerick players, unlike their Cork counterparts, are not brittle. We must also factor in their incredible record in finals under John Kiely. Between 17 league, Munster and All-Ireland deciders, they have won them all bar one – and that was only on penalties in last year's provincial showdown.
It's unheard of for a forward who doesn't score to get the Man-of-the-Match award, but that's what Gearóid Hegarty did against the Banner. When Limerick needed leaders, Hegarty was the man. Winning the hard ball and frees, his contribution was incalculable. However, the form of some of his teammates – notably, Aaron Gillane – must be worrying for their supporters.
Galway have been scoring for sport in this championship, but a measure of the challenge facing them is that Limerick have only conceded a total of a goal and a point from play in the second halves of the matches against Cork and Clare. They will want to turn Sunday's showdown into a physical war, crowd out space, and prevent the Leinster champions from dictating the tactical battle.
Sunday's decider takes Limerick back in some ways to where they started from, ending a 45-year All-Ireland famine in 2018 against Galway. They won't be standing on ceremony and the more suffocating the exchanges for possession, they better a fit-again Cian Lynch and company will like it.
It's tempting so suggest that Limerick are 'going' and Galway are 'coming', and how Sunday's showdown pans out will confirm that either way, but the Tribesmen have made stunning progress this year as the team management successfully identified and promoted young players who they believed could hack it at this level.
Micheál Donoghue and the Galway team have one more big hurdle to jump, but isn't it great to be in that position in the first place. Nobody knows how the final will evolve, yet if Galway can get into the same flow as was the case against Dublin and Cork, even those grizzled Limerick legends will have their work cut out to stop them.
Lucky Kerry
THEY had it against Tyrone, and Kerry footballers again benefitted from erroneous officialdom against Dublin in Sunday's All-Ireland semi-final. First of all, they were awarded a dubious penalty when Peadar Ó Cofaigh Byrne was harshly adjudged to have fouled Joe O'Connor; then Seán O'Brien was in the square when scoring Kerry's second goal; while a palmed effort from Dublin's Ross McGarry crossed the line, but the umpires were unmoved. All the big calls went against the challengers, but they will also regret a couple of spurned goal chances and other sloppy finishing. Overall, it's fair to argue that Dublin were the better team but Kerry again had luck on their side. Even when Evan Comerford saved David Clifford's spot kick, the rebound fell kindly for the Kerry ace who made no mistake at the second attempt.
Twenty-four hours earlier, a rejuvenated Mayo put Louth to the sword, with Ryan O'Donoghue and young Kobe McDonald both in top form. To end up in the All-Ireland Final after being trounced by Roscommon in the provincial semi-final on home turf is some achievement for manager Andy Moran and his players.
Even when Mayo were losing a multitude of All-Ireland finals, nobody could question their heart or courage. Of course, they still have a massive hurdle to clear and their record against Kerry is dire, but wouldn't it be ironic that the one year their supporters had virtually given up on the them could yet prove to be Mayo's greatest since 1951.