Galway bid to prevent Munster monopoly

ON the weekend when Munster rugby resumes its annual attempt to conquer Europe, only one team stands between Munster hurling and dominance of the current National Hurling League.

Of the six Division 1 teams still standing after series one, five are from Munster, proof positive that despite the recent rise in rugby’s popularity, on and off the park, hurling retains its pre-eminent status within the southern province.

Cork and Tipperary, the two traditional big guns, are still there, as are Clare, Limerick and Waterford. Holding the line for the rest of hurling? Galway, top of the class from their section in the earlier series.

After a two-week NHL hiatus, give everyone a chance to catch their breath after the dash through the first phase, series two kicks off this weekend; over the next three Sundays the round-robin continues and at the end of it all, just two will be left standing. One of those has to be from Munster; question is, can Galway prevent a Munster monopoly?

Their first big test comes this weekend, against Cork, in Pearse Stadium. In their continued wisdom TG4 are showing this one live, and with good reason. Clare and Tipp in Cusack Park would have been another good one, as would the meeting of Waterford and Limerick in Walsh Park, but given the circumstances, most interest will centre on how Galway fare against the best of Munster.

Cork are the only unbeaten Division 1 team, though they did come very close to losing that record, lucky to record a last-minute draw against Tipperary in the last round of games, two weeks ago. During that unbeaten run however, they haven’t looked at all impressive, scrambling wins over Limerick, Wexford, Offaly, struggling even against hapless Antrim, above in Belfast.

From one to eight, there is only one change from last September’s All-Ireland final starting 15, Mark Prendergast at corner-back for the injured Pat Mulcahy; elsewhere however, lots of new faces for the Rebels.

Joe Deane and Niall McCarthy are both in the forward division, though Jody is now in the corner (probably his best position), while McCarthy, the find of the year on the 40 last year, is on the wing. Forwards Jonathon O’Callaghan, Michael Byrne, Brendan Lombard and Eamonn Collins, along with midfielder Paul Tierney, are all given another chance to impress but in truth, only O’Callaghan has consistently looked the part to date. Could be that we will be seeing an earlier return to top action of former double hurler-of-the-year Brian Corcoran, albeit as a forward, sooner than expected, while new captain Ben O’Connor, fresh from his All-Ireland club heroics with Newtownshandrum, could also make his first appearance of the season.

In their campaign to date, Galway have been far more impressive, a loss to Clare in a hurricane their only blemish. They have a very settled look about them, unchanged from their last outing, a big win over Laois. Tight backs, strong midfield, dangerous inside forwards, half-forward is their only unproven line. With the Kenny/Curran/Ó hAilpín combination of last year together again, this is where Cork could prosper. Overall however, Galway look too strong, too settled, and in the continued absence of the O’Connor twins, the Cork scoring threat looks too watery.