Galway bid to erase painful memories

GALWAY fans still shudder at the thought.

And who could blame them? Losing by 19 points is never pretty, but doing so in the All-Ireland SHC qualifiers that really hurts.

Kilkenny were the ones dishing out the pain on that remarkable evening of hurling perfection in Thurles.

It ended Galway's year, but not the ambition of Conor Hayes or his players something he stresses again and again ahead of tomorrow's rematch in the Allianz NHL at Nowlan Park (2pm).

"It will be a difficult enough encounter for us, but these are the teams you have to play against to be successful in league and championship," says Hayes.

"We beat them last year in the league and they hammered us in the championship.

"It's a chance for us to get back on track again and see where we are going."

It's a tough ask away from home. More so as Athenry's involvement in the club final means that top scorer Eugene Cloonan, his brother Diarmuid and newcomer David Donoghue are unavailable.

When Galway won the corresponding game in Pearse Stadium 12 months ago by a three-point margin, Eugene hit 12. Galway went on to win the league yet failed to build on that success come championship time. Hayes rues the mistake.

"What happened was that we didn't carry that momentum we had built up during the league. We let it all slip.

"We let the players back to their clubs for two or three weeks and brought them back in again. We tried to regain that form, but we never did. They lost all the sharpness they had built up.

"Kilkenny were on the rebound (after the loss to Wexford) and they were in top form.

"That was the best game they played by a mile.

"We were poor but with the form Kilkenny had that evening they would have beaten anybody."

While the new championship system does offer his team more options, Hayes points out the importance a lengthy league campaign, as their first championship outing is six weeks after the NHL final.

All of which is in stark contrast to teams in other provinces.

"If we're finished by the middle of April, we won't be out again until two months after that. It may still be a bit of a handicap, but at least if we win our first game and lose our second game, we still have another one.

"That's something this team would clearly have benefited from last year after the Kilkenny match. Irrespective of how that would have gone, at least players and management would have had a better idea of where they stood.

"As it stands, the perception is that we're really no good that we're 19 points behind Kilkenny and we're not good enough. The reason I am there this year and the other lads are back is to prove that we are better than that.

"Had we played another game, say against Tipperary or Clare and we were beaten heavily in that, you wouldn't be talking to me as Galway manager. Okay it was a heavy defeat against Kilkenny, but it wasn't our true form."

Hayes has received the perfect boost ahead of tomorrow's clash with Kilkenny with last season's captain Ollie Canning being passed fit to play.

GALWAY (SH v Kilkenny): L Donoghue; D Joyce, S Kavanagh, F Moore; T Óg Regan, L Hodgins, D Collins; O Canning, David Hayes; A Smith, D Forde, F Healy; Damien Hayes, G Farragher, K Broderick.