Galway rarely under pressure as Dublin lack necessary bite
Galway 0-20
Dublin 1-11
ASIDE from the opening quarter, when a measure of intensity briefly coagulated in this National Hurling League Division 1B fixture at Pearse Stadium, this tie was tame by any standards. For Galway’s part, they dominated from start to finish — at times at their ease — but with Dublin asking few questions of them, the Tribesmen never really had to extend themselves.
In fairness, one of the reasons for this was that Galway were excellent at the back. Ronan Burke had one of his best games in the maroon jersey at full-back while Aidan Harte, Padraic Mannion and the returning Gearoid McInerney — fresh from his All-Ireland heroics with Oranmore/Maree a week earlier — also offered the necessary leadership. They ran a tight ship.
One of the most notable features of the fixture was Fergal Flannery’s puckouts. At times, and with pinpoint accuracy, he found the receiver and Dublin, particularly in the first half, struggled to come to terms with his restarts. Again, they were laser sharp.
Around the middle then, Cathal Mannion delivered another sublime performance — hitting four points from play — and he has formed a tidy centre-field partnership with Turloughmore’s Sean Loftus, who was also on the scoresheet.
Up front, Joe Canning was once again the man. Although not on the scoresheet from play—he converted eight frees — the Portumna sharpshooter’s work-rate was pivotal in dictating the play in attack. He caused Dublin all sorts of bother. He was not the only one.
Mullagh’s Davy Glennon — before retiring with a knock in the second period —a lso enjoyed a fine game, with his industry in the early stages helping to set the tone. Indeed, he had won two frees off Cian O’Callaghan before the Cuala man had his boots tied and Glennon would deservedly get on the scoresheet himself in the second half when collecting a quick-thinking Canning free.
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