Majestic Mannion turns the screw in big Galway victory

Wexford 2-19

GALWAY are starting to catch fire just as the senior hurling championship is starting to get serious.

A ten-point home win over a modest Wexford may not send shivers down the spines of Cork, Limerick or Kilkenny, but it still represented the Tribesmen’s most compelling display of the year so far.

A lot of questions have been hanging over Galway in 2025, but they answered some of them in front of a desperately poor crowd of around 6,000 at Pearse Stadium on Sunday.

With both teams having lost one of their opening two games in the provincial round-robin series, there wasn’t much room for error in a lively encounter, but the last thing Galway would have wanted was to be heading to Parnell Park later this month trying to stay in the championship.

Now, that contest against Dublin will decide which team saddles up against Kilkenny in the Leinster Final – a far cry from the widespread local pessimism sparked by Galway’s capitulation to the Cats in the opening round.

Once again it was the majestic Cathal Mannion who stood out from the crowd. Landing 17 points – six of which came from play – he gave an outstanding exhibition of accurate shooting and is arguably the most influential hurler in the country at present.

Mannion’s heroics were augmented by a hard-working team effort, with Galway showing no shortage of resolve in their positive response to two quality Wexford second half goals. Nobody was hanging their heads and instead the players in white jerseys were using theirs to quickly cancel out those green flags.

Overall, this was Galway’s most fluid display of 2025 and as they opened daylight between the teams over the closing minutes, you could see renewed confidence and belief in their ranks, with the promise of better to come.

If Mannion was the Galway star, there was no shortage of sterling support around the field. Moving Cianan Fahy, who picked off two rousing points, to wing back in the reshuffling to compensate for the suspended Daithí Burke’s absence proved a masterstroke.

Pictured: Galway defender Gavin Lee eyes up his options against Wexford's Rory O'Conor during Saturday's Leinster Senior Hurling Championship clash at Pearse Stadium.