All-Ireland victory final goal for Collins

IT was almost a cameo appearance, an after thought.

In the 69th minute of Sunday’s NHL opener in Kilmallock, with a young Limerick side finally subdued and Galway leading by seven points, 1-17 to 1-10, David Collins was sprung from the Galway bench.

But this was no cameo, no afterthought. For both David Collins himself and for Galway this was a moment of huge significance, and in this instance at least, ‘sprung’ is the operative word – David was absolutely bursting for action. 28 months ago, October 27, 2007, captain of both county and province, this cultured wing-back was leading Connacht in a cracking Martin Donnelly Interprovincial hurling final against Munster when disaster struck.