Galway’s class too much as plucky Dubs fall short

SATURDAY evening in Tullamore provided further irrefutable evidence of how these counties operate at underage hurling level.

Whatever about their senior travails, Galway certainly have the happy knack of flourishing at other grades.

This Bord Gáis Energy All-Ireland U21HC semi-final success saw the Tribesmen qualify for their 10th decider at this level in the last 15 years, a timeframe in which they have also reached 11 All-Ireland minor finals. The system does work in their favour and offers them clearcut opportunities to feature on the glamour days. But Galway do capitalise on them.

Dublin possessed a gilded bunch of U21 hurlers this season and their impressive play in Leinster proved that theory. But having your star men on the sidelines rather than being immersed in the action, will always leave a team hamstrung.

Rory O’Carroll was present in Tullamore on Saturday but his Croke Park assignment yesterday robbed Dublin of a powerful centre-back. Cruciate victims David Treacy and Shane Stapleton were wounding losses to the Dublin attack as well.

The absence of Treacy’s class meant it was left to Liam Rushe to run the forward line and although he put in a great shift, there was a limit to what he could achieve without proper support.

By the final whistle Dublin had substituted four of their starting sextet up front. Dublin suffered without Stapleton’s reliable freetaking as well with Niall McMorrow’s off day from placed balls represented by the four wides he struck at vital stages. Substitute Darren Whelan did rectify that problem by confidently converting three frees but those scores were in the final ten minutes.

By that stage the damage was done and Galway were eyeing a final date with Tipperary. This is not a Galway team illuminated by senior stars yet the fact that the workload is distributed evenly around the pitch benefits them. Captain David Burke admitted last week that in past seasons they were guilty of looking to a Canning from Portumna to carry the team on his back. With Joe now a senior player in the stands in Tullamore, the onus was on the Galway players to step up.

They did just that. Burke smacked over four long-distance frees at vital stages and mopped up possession well at centre-back. Behind him NUIG Fitzgibbon Cup winners Declan Connolly and Paul Gordon the Galway full-back line was a safe zone. In attack Niall Quinn and Eoin Forde both caught the eye in the half-forward line. Quinn rocketed a penalty to the net in the fifth minute which cancelled out an opportunist David Quinn goal for Dublin sixty seconds earlier.

Forde got some splendid points in that first-half, the highlight being a 23rd minute score after Quinn displayed tremendous vision to pick him out. With Conor Clinton and Peter Kelly on the mark, Dublin stayed in touch and were only 1-6 to 1-5 behind at the break.

But in the second-half the weather became winter-like and Dublin were hurling into the worst of it. Galway stayed composed and stuck to their gameplan of playing fast, direct ball. They were rewarded in the 41st minute when substitute Bernard Burke showed lightning pace to dart clear and tidily finish to the net. That goal essentially sealed the match in Galway’s favour as they lead 2-9 to 1-7 and they sealed a final date with Tipperary at their ease.

Galway manager Anthony Cunningham said at the end: “We are delighted with the win. We have a lot of brushing up to do, but we will try to kick on from this. The lads have worked awful hard for us during the summer and it has been tough going. I think that the lads settled down at half-time once we got that bit of daylight between us. It is an old rivalry with Tipperary now in the final. They are very impressive but there is a lot of hurling to be done between now and the final.”

Scorers for Galway: N Quinn 1-2 (one goal pen); D Burke 0-4 (four frees); B Burke 1-0; E Forde 0-3 (two frees); G Kelly 0-2; R Cummins, J Regan, J Coen 0-1 each.

Scorers for Dublin: D Quinn 1-0; D Whelan 0-3 (three frees); N McMorrow (two frees), P Kelly (one free, one ‘65), C Clinton 0-2 each; B O’Rorke 0-1.

Subs for Galway: B Burke for Cummins (inj) (half-time), J Grealish for Daly (48), N Burke for G Burke (53), J Cooney for Forde (57).

Subs for Dublin: K Warren for Brennan (half-time), A McEnerney for Quinn (43), D Whelan for McMorrow (45), M Schutte for Clinton (48), K O’Loughlin for O’Rorke (55).

Referee: Jason O’Mahony (Limerick).