Tribesmen ready to upset Rebels’ four-in-a-row dreams

CORK start favourites to beat Galway in this afternoon’s All-Ireland inter-county VEC SHC Final (Mallow, 3pm).

The Rebels, who defeated Kilkenny by 13 points in the semi-final, are bidding for four in a row while Galway, desperate to avenge last year’s decider defeat, impressed in their last round win over Tipperary.

Galway manager Bosco Hurney is conscious of the strength of the defending champions.

“Any team that handed out that 13-point thrashing to Kilkenny must be very good,” he said.

“But we played very well against Tipperary, particularly in the second half, and if we can play like that for the full hour, we’ll make it very hard for Cork.

“But any complacency on our part will be punished. We got a great start against Tipp, and held a seven-point lead at the break. However we appeared to take our foot off the pedal and allowed Tipp take a grip. But we finished strongly and were worth our five-point victory. We could not be as accommodating against Cork and expect to get away with it.

“There was nothing between us in last year’s final and today affords us a chance to turn the tables. I know we are up against a very good team, but we are not bad. We’ll have to play to the peak of our powers to wrest the title from Cork.”

If Aidan Walsh is as dominant as he was at centre back against the Cats, Lorcan McLoughlin and captain Maurice Sexton win the midfield exchanges, Cork have sufficient firepower in attack in Daniel Twomey, Roy Payne and Shane Howard to see off the Galway challenge.

CORK: R. Hayes; C. Walsh, B. Holland, G. Toomey; T. Harrington, A. Walsh, M. Desmond; L. McLaughlin, M. Sexton; J. McCarthy, S. Howard, D. Toomey; E. Kelly, J. Crowley, R. Payne.

GALWAY: C. Finnegan; T. Broderick, R. Burke, D. Schell; B. Ryder, B. Gardiner, C. Graney; D. Cox, E. Forde; D. Glennon, J. Cannon, D. Burke; B. Burke, J. Cone, R. Badger.