Burke propels Galway into decider

Galway 0-22 Limerick 2-14

Last September their U21 team were the hapless victims as Tipperary ruthlessly mowed them down to claim All-Ireland honours.

Last month their seniors saw another championship season screech to a halt when they collapsed against Waterford.

There were survivors from both those sides in the Galway U21 camp that arrived at the Thurles venue on Saturday night.

And they finally gained some reward for their endeavours, taking the spoils in an absorbing Bord Gáis Energy All-Ireland U21HC semi-final against Limerick.

They achieved victory in admirable fashion, coping with the 55th minute dismissal of wing-back Rory Fox, the concession of two goals to Limerick’s brilliant attacker Shane Dowling at key junctures and then the late barrage of pressure as Limerick pounded their rearguard. Galway survived all that and in the process ensured this would be the final chapter of Limerick’s wonderful 2011 hurling narrative.

Galway boss Anthony Cunningham admitted: “It was a great performance and we’re delighted to get over the line. It was very pleasing how we recovered from setbacks.

“I thought the sending-off was a harsh decision. As was the decision to throw the ball in as the referee thought we had time wasted near the end taking a free. But that happens in matches. The guys worked very hard and we’re very thrilled.”

After the fireworks of the Munster final, Limerick entered this game looking to build on their momentum. But they could never quite scale those heights once more. The absence of Cathal McNamara hit their half-back line hard and Kevin Downes’ broken bone in his hand saw him withdrawn before the break. Backed by a vociferous following Limerick spurned crucial opportunities during the second-half and never managed to build on Dowling’s second goal when he rammed home a 39th minute penalty.

They trailed by three points with eight minutes left when Mark Carmody failed to control a Dowling cross and that was their best chance to raise another green flag.

Dowling did attempt to rifle a 30-yard free in injury-time through a cluster of defenders yet the shot was blocked.

Limerick manager Leo O’Connor backed the decision to go for a goal. He explained: “A lot of the decisions we make as a management team, we leave up to the players on the field. Shane Dowling fancied his chances from it. He had a superb game of hurling tonight for us and was riding the crest of a wave at the time. Sometimes they don’t go in and that’s hurling.”

Despite the impressive play of Dowling and Declan Hannon, Limerick’s other blue-chip forwards were stifled by a tough-tackling and intense Galway defence. Full-back Niall Donoghue produced a marvellous performance while Paul Gordon was also to the fore. Captain Barry Daly was outstanding, a figure of perpetual motion who troubled the Limerick defence when placed at full-forward at the start and disrupted their midfield effort when moved out the field after the break. Tadhg Haran enjoyed a sparkling opening-half while the attacking star for Galway was centre-forward Niall Burke. The Oranmore-Maree youngster rifled over seven points from play with his accuracy of striking and aerial prowess causing serious damage to Limerick’s prospects.

“Niall Burke had a terrific game all through”, admitted Cunningham afterwards. “He’s a very good player, is underage next year and has a bright future. We need to keep developing these players and there’s thanks to Mattie Ryan with the coaching he has done with these guys through the summer. That’s what Galway hurling needs, a lot of development.”

Limerick’s goal-hungry attack demonstrated their threat when splitting the Galway defence for Dowling to bound through in the 10th minute before batting to the net.

That set the tone for Limerick to be in the ascendancy on the scoreboard in the first-half yet the exploits of Haran, Burke and Daly, who shot points of outstanding quality propelled Galway into a 0-14 to 1-9 half-time lead. Even though Dowling’s heroics restored Limerick’s lead to 2-11 to 0-16 by the 44th minute, the clinical nature of Galway’s attack proved decisive. They shot over five points in succession midway through the second-half, the pick of the bunch a beautiful effort from the sideline by substitute Bernard Burke. That scoring spree was pivotal to their progression to a final with Dublin on September 10th.

Scorers for Galway: T Haran (0-5f), N Burke 0-7 each; B Daly 0-3; J Regan, D Burke, C Cooney, D Glennon, B Burke 0-1 each.

Scorers for Limerick: S Dowling 2-5 (1-0 pen, 0-5f), D Hannon 0-4 (0-1 sideline), G Mulcahy, S O’Brien, K O’Donnell, C Allis, N Kennedy 0-1 each.

Subs for Galway: B Burke for Cooney (46), D Fox for Haran (58).

Subs for Limerick: M Carmody for Downes (inj) (28), K O’Donnell for Kennedy (48), W Griffin for Ryan (50), B O’Connell for Dempsey (50).

Referee: A Stapleton (Laois)