New-look Galway get spring in step
Happy days also for rookie manager Anthony Cunningham, his new-look side beginning to come together.
“It was a difficult league; we went within a puck of a ball of being in a semi-final but found ourselves in a relegation game. A slightly off-colour display against Waterford cost us but look, we got two great matches [against Dublin] to set us up for the championship.
“It will bring on the confidence of a lot of young players in a team we’re trying to mould.”
Significant in this game was the placement of the Galway defence. Cunningham and his fellow-selectors have been shipping some internal criticism for their experimentation policy during the league, shifting players out of their comfort zones and into new positions. On Saturday team captain Fergal Moore was back in his usual corner-back slot, away from centre-back. Tony Óg Regan was back on the 40. David Collins in his more familiar wing-back position, away from the edge of the square. All played superbly in their ‘new’ old positions and this was a major factor in why Dublin were held goal-less.
Young keeper Fergal Flannery also played his part, a busy man, thrice denying Dublin with brave body-blocks.
Another major factor in the Galway win was the powerhouse display of Iarla Tannian in midfield, while up front the young Burkes Niall (0-4) and David (especially, 1-3) gave great scoring support to Joe Canning, with yet another youngster, Davy Glennon, chipping in with 1-2.
Overall a really balanced Galway attacking display, veteran Damien Hayes running himself almost to a standstill (if this man is ever capable of standing still!) as provider.
Without question Galway deserved their win, but it wasn’t anywhere near as easy as the final scoreline suggest.
“We were lucky to be a point up at half-time [1-11 to 0-13, Joe Canning with the goal from a 20m free] and there was a nice little breeze with us in the first half,” Cunningham pointed out.
“The goals made the difference. The second goal Joe got gave us a bit of daylight and we kicked on from there, Dublin were chasing the game then.”
So they were, very gamely, but over-reliant as they were on the free-taking of Paul Ryan (11 of Dublin’s 19 points, 10 from placed balls), they never looked remotely like catching it. Defensively they were badly exposed, in midfield John McCaffrey and Martin Quilty (three points in the opening quarter) faded after a bright start, while up front, and in the second half especially, only Liam Rushe seemed capable of beating his own man.
Much to work on for Dublin manager Anthony Daly then with championship now only six weeks away, but these two games (draw and replay) won’t have done either side any harm in their preparations.
“Absolutely,” agreed Anthony Cunningham. “Anthony Daly said it to me last weekend, it was as good as a league semi-final, last Sunday’s match, and to get another game then six days later. If we hadn’t had those matches we wouldn’t have had any training for the last few weeks, they’d have been back to their clubs.
“They can go back now for a few weeks and if we can get over the winners of Westmeath/Antrim — hopefully — we’ll be back here again in about eight weeks in the Leinster semi-final. Probably the biggest thing we’ll get from this evening is confidence, that’s huge. This sets us up now. It’s easier to train guys, guys will do more of the things you’re pushing them to do.”
Scorers for Galway: J Canning 2-7 (1-6fs), D Burke 1-3, D Glennon 1-2, N Burke 0-4, C Donnellan 0-2, I Tannian, D Hayes, J Coen, 0-1 each.
Scorers for Dublin: P Ryan 0-11 (0-8f, 0-2 65s), M Quilty 0-3, C McCormack 0-2, J Boland, D Treacy, J McCaffrey 0-1 each.
Subs for Galway: J Glynn for Smyth (23), J Regan for Donnellan (60), B Flaherty for Donoghue (67), C Cooney for N Burke (70).
Subs for Dublin: S Lambert for Treacy (51), N McMorrow for O’Carroll (51), E Dillon for Quilty (57), R Traynor for Schutte (59), D Plunkett for Ryan (64).
Referee: J Sexton (Cork).
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