Mullins remains confident despite lack of competitive action

GALWAY readily appreciate what victory in Sunday’s Erin All-Ireland Under-21 hurling final against Kilkenny in the Gaelic Grounds would do for morale in the county and, of course, the self-esteem of a squad which includes four of the players who lost in Croke Park last weekend.

It would certainly be a boost for manager Vincent Mullins and the survivors from last year’s semi-final against Kilkenny, when they were victims of a powerful finishing surge which yielded nine unanswered points for the Cats.

A lack of serious preparation then had been a problem, as it is every season when Galway go into the All-Ireland semi-final ‘cold,’ without a competitive game to test them. Mullins says they are resigned to the current system, but it doesn’t mean they’d be opposed to a format which would allow them compete on equal terms with the Leinster and Munster teams.

“It’s hard to go in without playing serious matches because you just don’t know how good lads are. I don’t think it would be a bad idea to go into Leinster. “You should be contesting (provincial) semi-finals and finals as minors, Under-21’s and seniors!’’

Another added difficulty is the duplication of players. For instance, this year there were twelve players on both the Under-21 and intermediate teams and it led to a decision to have both teams train together. Four of the Under-21 players were involved with the seniors as well (David Collins and Niall Healy, in addition to two subs) and were only available the week before their semi-final game with Cork.

Three years ago, when Galway contested their last Under-21 decider (and lost for the third year in a row), Mullins was involved with the intermediate team. They had seven players who were part of the Under-21 set-up and six days after losing to Limerick they had to try and pick themselves up for a replay with Tipperary. “What we said to the lads was that ‘it’s not very often that you get the chance to redeem yourselves within a week!’ The same applies next Saturday.’’

He says that they felt confident about facing up to Cork after watching them beat Tipperary in the Munster final, explaining: “I felt that if Tipp (seniors) had beaten Galway the previous Sunday, they would have been a different proposition. The heads were down. The score tells you how the game went - 4-8 to 0-13. Tipp missed two or three goal chances. On another day, they might have got them.

“We were happy enough coming away from the game that it was Cork who got through!’’

He knows what to expect from Kilkenny. Merely reflecting on last year’s semi-final meeting in Portlaoise reminds him of the threat they face.

“We felt we left it behind that day. We were six points up with 15 minutes to go and they came back with nine points without reply. We finished slowly and they went on and won the final fairly handy.’’

Kilkenny were in the same position then as Galway, facing up to the final just one week after they were losers in the Guinness championship decider. Yes, it can motivate players, he agrees, but it can also be a ‘double-edged sword.’

“Kilkenny are used to winning. It’s very easy to motivate them.

“If the (Galway) seniors had won, the pressure would be slightly off. Instead of fellows trying to put two medals together, now they have only one chance!’’