Galway seeking consistency for big battle with in-form Banner
GALWAY’S qualification for the quarter-finals of the National Hurling League hinges on the Tribesmen bringing a measure of consistency to an inconsistent campaign when they travel to face All-Ireland champions and neighbours Clare at Cusack Park in Ennis on Sunday (2pm).
While a victory for Anthony Cunningham’s charges would cement their place in the last eight of the league – they would face a rival from Division 1B the following Sunday – they could afford to lose this one by a small margin and still qualify for the knockout stages, results going their way elsewhere.
That permutation, though, will not enter the thought process of the Galway management and players, all of whom, no doubt, will be anxious to hand out some degree of retribution to Clare for the manner in which the Banner took them apart in last year’s All-Ireland quarter-final.
Clare won that game 1-23 to 2-14 on route to claiming the All-Ireland title while that disappointing defeat for the Tribesmen proved to be the final punctuation mark on Galway’s abject tale of woe in 2013.
At the time of going to press, uncertainty surrounded the unavailability of the Portumna players – Galway captain Joe Canning, Andy Smith and Damien Hayes – following the Galway champions All-Ireland senior club triumph over Mount Leinster Rangers of Carlow on St. Patrick’s Day.
However, one suspects the three will be anxious to return to inter-county action sooner rather than later while Portumna defender Martin Dolphin, after a solid county and All-Ireland campaign, could be another the management may look at in the coming weeks.
In any event, Galway boss Cunningham should have his strongest squad to select from to date, particularly after Fergal Moore, Ronan Burke, Jonathan Glynn and Niall Burke, all of whom had been carrying injuries of late, came through the victory over Tipperary unscathed.
That 3-16 to 1-19 win was built on an opening half display full of endeavour and Cunningham did not underestimate how crucial a victory it was in his post-match assessment. “We have only two home matches and we want to be winning them,” he stated.
“We had a good performance against Dublin and for three quarters of the match there we had a good performance although we probably took the foot off the pedal a bit and allowed Tipperary to nearly force a draw in the finish. We are happy with the performance. It helps us build and we are building every day we go out.”
Still, the consistency Galway need to add to their game – not only from fixture to fixture but from quarter to quarter – must improve and Cunningham alluded to this. “While we had some very good passages of play, there were probably some passages not so good and some balls we should have cleared or blocked or maybe put over the bar.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.