Galway in the league semi-finals as visitors take a nap

WEXFORD 3-11                   

Kevin Egan at Pearse Stadium

ONE of the most iconic photos in the history of sports photography is that of Muhammad Ali standing over Sonny Liston, taken in 1965 when his opponent went down easily in the first round of their rematch – twelve months after Ali (then Cassius Clay) first won the heavyweight title at Liston’s expense.

Ali is believed to have shouted at Liston to “get up and fight”, saying that “no-one will believe this”, and one wonders if the Galway hurlers might have been tempted to do the same at the end of their league quarter-final win over Wexford at Pearse Stadium last Saturday. No-one would believe that the Model County’s second half performance was anything other than going through the motions either.

Admittedly, the advent of the provincial round-robin series and the removal of the Division 1A/1B structure has led to a notable increase in shadow boxing in this year’s league, but it’s still hard to come up with a plausible alternative explanation as to why Wexford’s performance levels fell off a cliff after half-time last Saturday.

The first half of this game was fascinating, with Galway trying – and failing – to put distance between the teams and giving themselves something to defend after the restart.

Galway played with the aid of the wind in that opening 35 minutes and with Joe Canning in imperious form from dead balls, not to mention moving well in general play into the bargain, Micheál Donoghue’s men quickly started to rack up the points.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

Get the Connacht Tribune Live app The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.