Galway get back in gear

GALWAY bounced back after last week’s shock loss to Dublin with a good win over Tipperary in Salthill. They scored 26 points but still needed three late points to edge away.

Galway boss Ger Loughnane revived memories of Clare in their pomp before a ball was struck, with wholesale changes to his side. One blue and gold withdrawal altered the complexion of the game — as in draining the blood from Tipp faces. When Eoin Kelly scratched just before the throw-in, it meant this was one edition of Hamlet without the prince, though that meant a chance for attendant lords to show their paces.

“A lot of the lads were sick all the week,” said Tipp boss Michael Babs Keating afterwards. “That’s why we didn’t start Eoin; John Carroll is sick in bed at home, Shane McGrath was sick. It was one thing on top of another, a stomach illness — and it wasn’t Galway water they were drinking, either!”