Galway left with loads to do ahead of the championship

Galway 0-22

THIS is not quite as bad as it looks. A flattering conclusion perhaps given Galway hurlers suffered their third defeat by a dozen points in Division 1A of the National League at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday night.

Sure, the outcome underlined the gulf where Galway are currently at and where they must get to, but the Tribesmen’s camp can still extract some nuggets of encouragement from their spring campaign.

For between those heavy losses to Tipperary, Limerick and Cork, Galway’s positive results left them fighting for a league final place on their trip to the banks of the Lee even if the odds were stacked against them in trying to topple what proved a fired-up Cork outfit.

The Rebels’ desperation for a national title – no All-Ireland since 2005 or league glory since 1998 – meant there would be no holding back in front of over 20,000 spectators. Cork simply had to win.

Their pace, athleticism, cohesion and aggression had Galway in all kinds of trouble at times and only for the efforts of Cathal Mannion, who scored five points from play on his first start of the league, the margin of defeat could have been really ugly for Micheál Donoghue’s team.

It’s not excusing the 12-point loss to Cork, but Galway produced some neat hurling at times, notably in the opening half, but their defence as a unit couldn’t cope with the hard running and movement of the opposition forwards.

Galway weren’t at full strength either and we must remember too that Donoghue and his management had to start rebuilding from nearly the ground up after Henry Shefflin’s regressive term in charge, particularly during his last season.

There were periods on Saturday when Padraic Mannion, newcomer Joshua Ryan, Gavin Lee, Tom Monaghan, Cianan Fahy, Rory Burke, Seán Linnane and Tiernan Killeen were more than holding their own, but all had difficulties too on an evening Galway didn’t get the expected impact from seasoned attackers, team captain Conor Whelan and Brian Concannon.

With 63 minutes gone, Cork had gone 4-21 to 0-18 clear and you were wishing the punishment beating would end for the visitors. Fears of a 20-point drubbing were real, but Galway kept toiling away with substitute, the much-maligned Conor Cooney, slotting over three late points, including two from play.

Granted, Cork were emptying their bench by this stage and the contest had lost much of its intensity, but the Tribesmen were showing some spirit in difficult circumstances even if it was a in exercise in damage limitation.

Pictured: Cork's Declan Dalton is chased by Cianan Fahy of Galway during Saturday's Division 1A league clash at Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Inset: the outstanding Cathal Mannion.