Minor hurlers lay title on the line

Date Published: 04-Aug-2010

Stephen Glennon

Reigning All-Ireland champions Galway will wait on the fitness of defenders Darragh Burke and Conor McDonagh before they announce their starting XV later this week for the All-Ireland minor semi-final clash against Kilkenny at Croke Park on Sunday (1:30pm). 

Both Burke and McDonagh were forced to retire in Galway’s 1-15 to 2-8 victory over Waterford in the All-Ireland quarter-final at GAA headquarters 10 days ago, with manager Mattie Murphy noting that he would see how the defensive duo fared at training on Tuesday night before making a decision on their inclusion. 

While Murphy expected St. Thomas’ Burke, recovering from a groin injury, to be okay, it could be a tighter call for Killimordaly’s McDonagh, who has been suffering from a dead leg. McDonagh was unable to train following the quarter-final victory over Waterford, and Murphy said he would have to assess the teenager at Tuesday evening’s session. 

Given Galway were so impressive in the opening period, leading 1-9 to 0-5 at half-time against Waterford, the management team of Murphy, trainer Michael Haverty and selectors Michael Fogarty and Michael Flanagan will hope they can regenerate that momentum against the Cats with a similar starting XV. 

Of course, Waterford did regroup at the interval and duly responded to outscore the young Tribesmen 2-2 to 0-2 in the third quarter. “The half-time break gave Waterford a chance to organise themselves, bringing one of their midfielders to wing back,” said Murphy. “I suppose, though, after five or six games, they knew what they had, they were able to do that, and they were able to bring in a couple of subs.” 

For Galway’s part, an injury to full-back Darragh Burke had forced the management to change the composition of the team at the interval, although some have argued that the wholesale switches they made were to the detriment of the side. 

Murphy, though, maintained that, unlike the Munster finalists, Galway had not the advantage of previous championship games to tinker with the team, or, indeed, pursue other combinations. They, simply, had one knockout championship contest to get things right on the day. 

“Waterford had four and a half games to get things right, where Galway were going in blind,” said the Galway manager. “It was our first day out and for most people it was the first time to see these players in action. I don’t know. After one game, all of a sudden, everyone is an expert. Everyone has an opinion. Hindsight, though, is a wonderful gift.”