In-form Tom Monaghan thrilled to end Leinster final agony with Galway
IF Tom Monaghan can continue his scoring form into the latter stages of the All-Ireland Senior Championship, the Craughwell clubman could potentially be in the running for the hurler of the year.
After not starting the first three games for the Tribesmen in the Leinster SHC, Monaghan has broken onto the Galway starting XV. He has landed an impressive 1-21, all coming from play, in six games.
Monaghan was awarded man of the match for his performance in the Leinster final where he hit 0-7 from play. His pace, movement and scoring power has made him a handful for defenders.
Galway manager Micheal Donoghue highlighted Monaghan’s impressive scoring form for the Tribesmen after the Leinster final.
“It’s testament to him, his attitude and his application obviously his talent is undoubted. He’s just growing into that role, he’s a big player for us,” said Donoghue.
Monaghan felt the way Galway stuck to their game plan during the Leinster final was a key factor in them tasting provincial success last Saturday.
“I suppose we've been playing in dribs and drabs up to this and we shipped a bit of criticism and rightly so,” Monaghan told RTE sport.
"We were looking for a 70-minute performance and we got that today. We stuck to our plan and we kind of said at half-time we need to stick to what we're doing. Thank God it worked out in the end.”
Monaghan, Daithi Burke, Conor Whelan, Conor Cooney, Brian Concannon, Padraic and Cathal Mannion were all part of the panel in 2018 when Galway last tasted provincial success. The Galway forward was pleased to see his county end their eight year wait for the Leinster SHC title.
"Look, we've faltered at this hurdle now for so long and we've had incredibly tough days here in Leinster finals. Any time you leave Croke Park without a medal is a really tough day and I'm just glad today we got our medal,” added Monaghan.
Conor Cooney also became the first Galway player to win four Leinster senior medals at the weekend.
Monaghan also went to dedicate the Leinster final win to his mother after her sister sadly passed away last week.
"I'm glad to put a smile on my mother's face after losing her sister during the week," he said.
"It was an incredibly tough week for the family so I'm just incredibly proud today that I was able to put a smile on my mum's face."