‘Drastic’ moves did the trick, says Hayes

ANY talk of dissension in the Galway camp was well and truly dispelled in Croke Park yesterday where Conor Hayes’ men fashioned an exhilarating two point victory over Tipperary in the All-Ireland SHC quarter-finals.

It was a victory that didn’t look likely with 15 minutes to go and the Tribesmen six points down, but drawing inspiration from a magnificent Damien Hayes goal, Galway raised their game and went on to book their place in the semi-final against Kilkenny.

For manager Hayes it was a most gratifying victory. “Maybe it was our lack of match practice at this level, but we looked way off the mark in the first half,” admitted Hayes.

“Our finishing was very poor and the number of wides we had from scoring positions was a worry. The only redeeming feature was that at least we were creating the chances.

“At the break I emphasised to the players to keep plugging away and we would come good. We eventually got a grip on the game and once that happened I was reasonably confident we could go on and win it.

“As the second half wore on we seemed to get stronger and stronger, and all that coincided with a couple of switches in defence and attack which worked well for us.

“We started man-marking Tipp guys in the backs and they weren’t getting the same space or opportunities like they got in the first half.

“The principal moves were putting Ollie Canning out on Eoin Kelly and Shane Kavanagh on Ger O’Grady, and once we got their measure we began to come more into the game.

“It is probably a drastic move to switch your full-back and centre-back, but thankfully it worked out well for us.

“What can I say about our forwards? They were magnificent. They chased and harassed the Tipp backs at every opportunity and never allowed them to get in any lengthy clearances like they were doing in the first half.

“And of course we had Ger Farragher in outstanding form from the frees which is always a bonus for any team.

“Tipp had Eoin Kelly, we had Ger and some of his points were magnificent efforts from all angles and distances.

“In training the other night he pointed 46 frees out of 50 and he was disappointed at that, but that’s the type of guy he is, a pure perfectionist, and thank God for him.

“To be honest with 15 minutes to go I honestly thought the game was gone from us, but there is tremendous character in these players and we have worked extremely hard as a group, polishing up on various aspects of our game, particularly the one where a game is never over until the final whistle.

“I know it’s a well worn cliché but we kept pressing home the message at every opportunity to take the points and the goals will come, and in a hurling game a six point lead is nothing, only two pucks of a ball.

“It was a game the lads wanted to win very badly and had said coming up that they were not going home losers. We’ve had enough of that over the last couple of years, and once Damien [Hayes] got the goal, it opened up the game completely.

“It gave us the momentum to go on and win the game and I was surprised that we seemed to finish far stronger that Tipp. We certainly had the legs on them in the last few minutes.”

But he sounded a word of caution.

“This victory will do wonders for the game in Galway, but I’ve just said it in the dressing room, we have nothing won yet. It will certainly settle us a bit better and when we look back on the game I’m sure there are areas we can brush up on for the semi-final.

“To come out of a game like that as winners after being six points down is a huge achievement for Galway and this game will bring us on a lot. Galway hurling now has three teams involved in All-Ireland championship semi-finals and that can only be good for the game in the county.”