Galway aim to bounce back against Cork

ONLY a series of mathematical miracles will rob Kilkenny and Clare of an Allianz NHL Final meeting.

Although Galway or Tipperary could theoretically make the decider, the Westerners’ manager Conor Hayes admitted: “It looked like from the start that both Clare and Kilkenny were going to stay winning and that’s the way it’s probably going to continue.’’

Tomorrow, his side face All-Ireland champions Cork, and for both Hayes and John Allen, the championship is coming into focus. For the Tribesmen, there is less of an immediacy than for Cork, who take on Waterford on May 22, but it is a priority nonetheless.

A dispirited performance against Tipperary in Pearse Stadium last weekend left them in no doubt about the work that lies ahead to bring their team to a level of competitiveness at which they would be comfortable.

Galway more or less achieved this in the preliminary series of games in the league, using their second round tie against Kilkenny as a yardstick to measure progress. And, while they lost, the fact that the margin was four points (compared to 19 points in the All-Ireland quarter-final last year) was reassuring, to players and management alike.

They followed with victories over Clare, Waterford and Laois to guarantee their involvement in the second phase. However, after a narrow win over Wexford, they slipped up badly at home last weekend when losing by eight points to Tipperary.

“The game didn’t go right for us, we didn’t perk up at all,’’ he admitted. “Tipperary were that bit sharper and hungrier than us. We just didn’t get going.

“Maybe it was on the way. Tipperary had been coming off a three-game defeat and there was a fair bit of pressure on them. They looked that bit sharper, we struggled to score and they found that scores came easily for them. It was disappointing. Our lads didn’t show a great deal of heart either, which was a bit worrying’’

Another concern for Hayes is their failure to find the net in the last two outings, having hit nine in the preliminary rounds.

It’s all the more worrying given the talents of Kevin Broderick, Damien Hayes and Eugene Cloonan

“That’s something we’re going to have to look at and get right,’’ he agreed.

The worries are not confined to the front line. The absence of Cloonan’s brother Diarmuid (through suspension) has prevented Galway from forming a settled defence.

“That’s probably the most frustrating aspect of it. We would have hoped to have Diarmuid for one of these games, just to see what he would be like.

“Obviously he would be one of our central men. Shane Kavanagh got injured and he had been playing well at full-back. That upset us.

“We had to move Tony Regan back into full-back and we tried Liam Hodgins there. It has kind of unsettled our central line.’’

More positively, David Collins is settling at midfield and Ollie Canning is impressing at wing-back.

Hayes, who played with Glen Rovers when he worked in Cork, isn’t negative about the future. He knows the three games in the second phase are beneficial and he’s banking on his players raising the standard tomorrow.

“We’re playing the All-Ireland champions, one of the top teams in the country. Obviously, we’d like a good performance against them.

“It’s a great game for us to get, considering that we didn’t play well last Sunday. There’s a chance there to show that we are better than that.”