Galway not likely to stop Kilkenny’s march to final

NOBODY knows what to expect from Galway when they confront holders Kilkenny in this afternoon’s All-Ireland SHC quarter-final in Croke Park.

All we have to go on is evidence of their meeting at the same stage in Thurles last year. Kilkenny went on an early scoring spree and led by 17 points after 11 minutes of the second half before Galway came back with a vengeance. At the end a mere five points separated the teams.

Ger Loughnane has done a lot of talking since he took over the team from Conor Hayes last winter. Most recently, he was seen to be “stirring it” in his native county in advance of their qualifier in Ennis and since then he has insulted Kilkenny with insinuations about their tackling.

And it will be recalled that he made a forecast that he would deliver the Liam McCarthy Cup within two years. There was nothing extraordinary about Galway’s form in the NHL, which saw them go under to Dublin, bounce back against Tipperary and fail narrowly (by four points) to Kilkenny in Nowlan Park.

Notably, they went under by a similar margin to Wexford in the quarter-final.

Nobody doubts the potential in the county, which saw them shock Kilkenny in the semi-final two years ago but lose the final to Cork. But questions persist about the balance of the team and whether Loughnane has succeeded in putting together a more settled defence.

What of Kilkenny? They remain favourites for another All-Ireland and Galway don’t look best qualified to knock them off their perch.

In the League final, Kilkenny were caught by Waterford’s stronger finish and the Leinster championship presented no great challenge to them, with Offaly well below the standard of recent years and Wexford a huge disappointment. However, their record in the All-Ireland series under Brian Cody is unequalled (10 consecutive semi-finals and four titles from seven appearances in the final).

While there has been speculation that the tragic death of James McGarry’s wife may have affected their preparations, I don’t subscribe to this view. But it would have been a different story if the game had gone ahead last Sunday.

With Henry Shefflin giving huge leadership and no reason to suspect that any of the Kilkenny players have lost their form or zest for the game, I am satisfied that they will be too strong. We all look forward to the day when Galway make the breakthrough that their under -age talent dictates they should achieve, but unless Loughnane has a few rabbits up his sleeve, I can’t see it happening this weekend.

Verdict: Kilkenny