Hurlers hold all the aces against Offaly
GALWAY and old rivals Offaly will go head-to-head for the 11th time in championship hurling at O’Moore Park, Portlaoise on Sunday (3:30pm), with the Tribesmen expected to be at full strength again for their Leinster senior hurling semi-final clash.
Following their 17-point hammering of Westmeath, Galway have put themselves within 70 minutes of reaching the provincial decider and, by extension, at the very least securing a place in the All-Ireland quarter-finals later in the Summer.
Although Galway shade the stats in terms of previous meetings – the Tribesmen claiming the spoils on six occasions, including their last meeting in 2012 when they won 5-23 to 3-15 – Micheal Donoghue’s charges have been installed as overwhelming 1/25 odds on favourites to win on Sunday.
However, while the bookmakers don’t expect Offaly, who lost to Westmeath in the opening round of the round robin in the Leinster championship, to come within 11 points of the Tribesmen, manager Donoghue is a lot more guarded.
“With regards to Offaly, similar to the Westmeath game, where their season has been up and down it has been more on the up in the last couple of weeks in terms of they having good wins under their belt. And you know yourself, winning breeds confidence,” says the Clarinbridge man.
“So, look, we will give them the absolute respect they deserve and we will be going up there totally tuned into our own game and that is all we can do. As I said, we are very mindful of the tradition and rivalry and what they can bring to the table. So, we are 100% totally focused on this game.”
For this one, Galway should be at full strength with Joe Canning, Daithí Burke and Cathal Mannion recovering from the knocks they sustained in their side’s 3-27 to 0-19 victory over Westmeath last day out.
Donoghue, though, does have injury concerns, namely defenders John Hanbury (hamstring) and Kevin Hussey (groin) and young forward Eanna Burke (groin).
Other than that, he is content with the manner in which his players have applied themselves to their preparations over the last fortnight, which included a challenge match against Tipperary last week. “We just wanted to get a game in to up the tempo,” says Donoghue.
“We came through it alright and we are in good enough shape. Obviously, having the first game under the belt, you automatically tune in to moving on. In fairness, we have had a good eight or nine days in terms of training and the challenge match. It has been worthwhile and productive.”
It will be Friday evening before Donoghue and his management team announced their starting 15 and it remains to be seen just how many changes, if any, they will make from the Westmeath fixture.
Full preview in this week's Connacht Tribune.