Murphy’s law as Galway starlets target title

THE minor hurling grade has been good to Galway. Since they won their first All-Ireland title back in 1983, they have picked up the Irish Press Cup seven times. Over the same period, Kilkenny have been successful five times.

Underage success doesn’t guarantee senior titles as Galway know only too well. Over the last 25 years they have taken the Liam MacCarthy Cup on only two occasions, 1987 and 1988.

Contrast that with Kilkenny’s record at senior level. Over the same period they have won the title eight times and are chasing their ninth next Sunday.

It’s difficult to put a finger on the huge gap there is between the two counties at senior level. Current Galway minor manager Mattie Murphy is of the view that the lack of quality matches in Connacht is holding his county back.

“In all grades of hurling we go into the All-Ireland series with little or no preparation in terms of competitive games, and the county is a sitting duck as a result,” said Murphy.

“If the powers that be get their way, this will be the last year Galway will be out on a limb. It looks like we’ll be competing in the Leinster championships next year and it will be interesting to see how we get on there.”

Murphy is the most successful minor coach Galway have had. He has taken the county to eight All-Ireland finals winning four of them. Sunday will be the sixth meeting between the counties during Murphy’s reign and in that time there has been an even spread of results, with each winning two, drawing two and losing two ties.

Despite the lack of competitive games, Mattie, who is a retired school teacher, relishes the challenge of preparing minor teams. “There are a lot of good youngsters in the county who love their hurling. It’s a question of getting the right people in charge to coach and bring them along.

“Any one of half a dozen counties could win the minor All-Ireland in a given year. Tipperary were favourites at the start of the season to make it three wins in a row, but they failed to beat Kilkenny in the semi-final.

“Kilkenny weren’t rated in Leinster but defied the odds and are in the final. Cork beat Tipp in the Munster final; we beat Cork in the All-Ireland semi-final after struggling to see off Wexford in the quarter-final.

“We improved greatly from the game against Wexford. The Munster final probably misled Cork a bit. Tipperary who were the form team and the team everyone had to beat, were subsequently soundly beaten by Kilkenny in the All-Ireland semi-final.

“There was very little between ourselves and Cork for most of that semi-final and the goal we scored, was probably the deciding factor in the game.”

Despite the fact that Galway won’t have the same support as Kilkenny, he expects the Waterford followers to get behind his team and cheer them on.

“You have to remember this is a massive day for Waterford people. They’ll be in early to soak up the atmosphere of the occasion and nothing would suit them better than to see the black and amber colours lowered.

“It would give them heart for the big one. Having said all that, we’ll have to improve greatly on our semi-final form.

“Midfield is one area that worries me, but we have worked on trying to solve that problem and hopefully things will go right for us on Sunday.

“Galway needs to be winning All-Ireland titles to keep pace with the other counties, because if we join up with Leinster for 2009, they may not come as frequently.”