Anthony Daly I was below in Cork the day that Galway played Carlow two weeks ago. It never even entered my head to check the result because I thought it was a foregone conclusion. Yet when I heard Carlow were just three points behind with eight minutes remaining, I honestly wasn’t that surprised.

Martin Kavanagh fired 11 points for Carlow, but he was unable to get them over the line for victory as Galway claimed the win in their Leinster SHC opener at Pearse Stadium.

The Joe Show, that most popular one-man production which has been enthralling crowds since the middle of the last decade, ain’t running these next two months.

Galway hurlers have received a timely boost with Joseph Cooney marking his return from Australia by turning in a superb performance for his club Sarsfields at the weekend.

Not exactly get out of jail but Waterford gave Galway the slip thanks to a slack second-half from the Tribesmen in Nowlan Park.

Waterford 1-18 Galway 0-19

David Clifford is in line to make his first start for Kerry this season as he is named in the full-forward line in tomorrow’s final round Division 1 game in Roscommon.

Sunday’s league semi-final will tell Galway manager Micheál Donoghue whether the fringe players he has persisted with throughout the spring are capable of making an impact come championship, according to former Galway forward Niall Healy.

Galway advanced to the semi-finals of the Allianz League thanks to an impressive display in the second-half when they were playing against the wind at Pearse Stadium.

A 74th minute strike from Shane Bennett decided a game of two halves in stormy weather at Walsh Park this afternoon.

This was a convincing and routine win for Galway as they easily bettered Dublin to claim both the league points on offer at Pearse Stadium.

Worth a watch.

The 2018 GAA season has begun in earnest. One of the key talking points is whether Galway will retain their All-Ireland hurling title, writes Jack Anderson.

Galway 1-19 Antrim 1-16: After an hour of average hurling Micheál Donoghue’s Galway finally showed their class to launch the defence of their league and championship titles with victory over Antrim at Pearse Stadium.

Neal Peden’s Antrim almost landed the first major knock-out blow of the season, but the All-Ireland and league champions Galway finally found their form in the closing minutes to take the points at Pearse Stadium.

As David Burke’s acceptance speech extended on Sunday, Peter Canavan’s victorious address 14 years previous came to mind. “I’m not finished yet,” the Tyrone great told the masses in front of him. “It took me a long time to get here.”

Sports writer, John Fogarty, enters the mind of the problem gambler and reveals how easily the issue can take over your life.

The Banner continue to raise the standard, but others are falling adrift...

Galway 1-27 Cork 1-21: A fine spring day in Salthill yesterday, the home side making the most of the sunshine, romping to a comfortable win over visiting Cork.

Galway 3-28 Laois 1-14: The north-west wind continues to blow strongly in Galway’s favour but to boil down this performance to another coin toss win would be facetious.

In yesterday’s Irish Examiner, we carried a transcript of Brian Cody’s absorbing interview with six journalists in the bar of the CityWest Hotel on Sunday morning.

Kilkenny 2-16 Galway 1-16

Galway manager Anthony Cunningham admitted the three goal opportunities squandered by his attack were crucial factors in their second league defeat of the season.

KILKENNY 2-16 GALWAY 1-16

Connacht 1-18 Munster 0-16

Henry Shefflin and Michael Fennelly will start on the Kilkenny team to play Cork in the All-Ireland senior hurling quarter-final in Thurles tomorrow.

Conor Cooney got defending All-Ireland champions St Thomas’ Galway SHC campaign back on track with their first win of the group stages over Killimordaly.

Laois 1-13 Galway 2-17

Galway 2-17 Laois 1-13

All-Star forward Damien Hayes has been brought into the Galway attack for tomorrow's Allianz Hurling League semi-final against Kilkenny at Semple Stadium (throw-in 3.45pm).

Waterford 0-12 Galway 0-15

Waterford 0-12 Galway 0-15