Seán Óg queries Hayes placing

JOHN McINTYRE’S decision to play Damien Hayes at full-forward against Offaly last weekend was a hugesuccess but he would be well advised to revert to type and play Joe Canning on the edge of the square on Sunday.

So says Seán Óg O hAilpín who believes the exertions of three matches in three weeks will stand against aGalway team facing a fresh Kilkenny side in the forthcoming Leinster final at Croke Park.

Hayes plundered 2-3 for Galway in the semi-final replay win over Joe Dooley’s side last Saturday in Portlaoise but O hAilpín doesn’t believe the tactic would meet anything like the same success against the country’s top side.

“They played Hayes full-forward against Offaly, which was a strange move,” he told Joe.ie. “It worked out for them and maybe John McIntyre was thinking about having a go at Noel Hickey with the pace of Hayes.

“But people have been questioning the Kilkenny full-back line for years, saying they’ve no pace or whatever. Every time it happens, they chew it up and spit it back in your face. Make no mistake, those guys will be ready.

“If Damien Hayes starts at full-forward you have to give him the ball in low. Send in high balls and Noel Hickey will eat them for breakfast all day. If they have Hayes at full forward, you’ll see Tommy Walsh and JJ Delaney zoning off.

“So, they’d be much better with Joe Canning at full-forward no matter what. You can give it to Canning any way. He’s quick on the ground. He’s good on the air. It’d be baffling if Joe was out in the corner.”

While Galway have been pushed to the limit twice by Offaly, Kilkenny cantered past a disappointing Dublin side two weeks ago despite the fact that they looked rusty and hit numerous wides after a lengthy lay-off.

“Kilkenny will want to play as few games as possible to win an All-Ireland. They’ll be thinking ‘Win this, and we’ve a five-week break to the semi-final.’ If they have to go through the back door, they’ll have to play a good few games.

“That’s the way it was back in 2004 when they were caught by Wexford in the Leinster (semi)-final and still made the All-Ireland final, but we caught them. They’ll want to avoid the back door. They mightn’t win by a lot this Sunday, but they’ll win.”