Ready for a return to glory

A QUICK glance through the records, and you begin to understand why the new All-Ireland hurling championship system is such a vast improvement on the old.

Prior to 1996, when the backdoor system was first introduced, Galway’s All-Ireland quarter-final record read, played 18, won 18. Average winning scoreline? 4-19 to 2-8.

Since then however, when the likes of Kilkenny, Waterford, Clare, entered the equation its been a vastly different story for Galway. The stat sheet now reads played 7, won 2, drew 1, lost 4.