Canning calls on tribe to be wary

Joe Canning reckons Galway got enough of a fright against Westmeath last year not to underestimate them this time round.

The Tribesmen will open their championship campaign against a Westmeath side managed by Galway man Brian Hanley when they clash in the Leinster SHC quarter-final at Mullingar on Sunday.

Canning was a sub when a hat-trick of goals from Cyril Donnellan gave Galway a rather flattering 4-17 to 2-14 win but it was only in the closing stages that they pulled away.

Injury denied Canning the chance to play from the start last year, but he is expecting a hard battle once again.

“It is going to be tough; no game is going to be easy this year. But we have been training hard and we finished the league well,” said Canning at a fundraising night for the Tribesmen at the Galway Greyhound track.

As a former All-Ireland club winner with Athenry and former manager of city club Liam Mellows, Hanley knows Galway hurling, but Canning is determined not to make the same errors as they did 12 months ago.

“Brian Hanley will have Westmeath in good shape. Last year was tough up there and we were pretty lucky to get out of that one, but hopefully we won’t make the same mistakes there next weekend,” said Canning.