PREVIEW: Galway minor hurlers face Limerick in All-Ireland semi-final
THE Galway minor hurlers face Limerick on Saturday (5pm) in the All-Ireland semi-final at Cusack Park, Ennis. This will be Galway’s first competitive outing since their Leinster final win over Kilkenny. Kenneth Burke’s side displayed tremendous resilience, staging a remarkable comeback from 12 points down with just 15 minutes remaining to force extra time before edging out Kilkenny 3-20 to 3-19.
Burke and his management team will take great pride in their players’ determination and character, but they will also recognise that there is room for improvement and will be eager to produce a more complete performance against Limerick.
Michael Coen, Anthony Poinard and Tadhg Mac Cártaigh have consistently led Galway’s attack during the Leinster Championship and the three players hit 2-18 between them for the Tribesmen during the provincial final.
Burke said the break after the Leinster final has given his side time to recover and get the bodies right ahead of the All-Ireland semi-final.
“The break was no harm, we were playing for five weeks in-a-row (during Leinster) which is tough going on young lads never mind seniors. The break was good, about two half weeks of training done, the preparation has gone fairly well. Obviously, we’ve known that we are playing Limerick since last weekend, it’s been about having a look at them to see what’s coming, we’re looking forward to it.”
The injuries have started to clear up for Galway ahead of this weekend. Jamie Egan and Tadhg Mac Cártaigh had to deal with injuries throughout the Leinster championship. Both players have returned to full fitness which is a significant boost for Burke’s side. Cathal Hanniffy is ruled out of the All-Ireland semi-final with a broken thumb.
Galway captain Gus Lohan has formed an impressive midfield partnership with Egan where the Oranmore-Maree clubmen have brought plenty of energy around the middle third.
Defenders Dillon Shaughnessy, Cathal Donoghue, son of Galway senior hurling manager Micheal, and Ultan Leen have all produced solid campaigns at the back for the boys in maroon and white.
Limerick come into this weekend’s clash on the back of a nine point win over Clare in the All-Ireland quarter-final. Shane Waters and Rian Horgan shot 2-9 between them in the Shannonsiders 2-16 to 0-13 victory, while goalkeeper Sam Collins produced some crucial saves.
They recorded victories over Cork and Clare during the Munster championship, while they suffered a Munster final defeat to Tipperary losing out 3-16 to 0-18. Diarmuid Mullins replaced Donal O’Grady as Limerick minor hurling manager this season.
“All Limerick teams now work really hard, they’ll be fairly structured in the way they set up. At the end of the day, their intensity levels around the middle third is really high like their senior team, that’s the way they play, they try to crowd the middle and hit the pockets of space that they leave inside. We’ll have to match that intensity around the middle.
“We’ve made positional changes on the way we are setting up, we’ve looked at that and how we are going to set up against Limerick. It’s important as well because Limerick play slightly different to Kilkenny. We’ve plenty of work done so hopefully the lads will get a performance for 60, 65 minutes or whatever it’s going to be. If we can do that, we can get the result we want.”