Final loss still pains Canning

Joe Canning’s not going to go there.

Earlier in the week, his older brother Ollie had something to say about how elements of the media contextualised his pre All-Ireland replay comments about Henry Shefflin but he himself pleads the fifth. Best left aside.

The injury? Sure, he’ll talk about that. Galway selector Mattie Kenny said the knee ligament problem Canning picked up 10 days before the final would have kept him out of a lesser occasion like a league game. But an All-Ireland final replay? Not a chance.

At the time, he didn’t think it would be as serious as it turned out, preventing him from training for the week prior to the rematch with Kilkenny.

“It didn’t affect me in the final – I was fine. I got a few injections and that sorted me. The pain obviously affected me in some way [before the final] but on the day I was fine and I didn’t feel anything. It’s not an excuse or anything like that.”

The same “niggle” hit Canning earlier in the year but it was gone in a couple of days. It won’t require surgery and he didn’t need any pain-killers for Portumna’s county quarter-final defeat to Turloughmore last Sunday when he pocketed 13 points.

If Galway did a good job of keeping Canning’s injury under wraps, news about James Skehill’s dislocated shoulder picked up two days before the replay spread like wildfire. He started but retired injured at the break and later admitted failing a fitness test.

“He said he was able to play but it wasn’t down to me but totally down to the management and James,” recalled Canning.

“Who knows, if we had won the match nobody would be asking why he played or why did you start him. Obviously, he was in pain but it was bravery as well that led to him dislocating his shoulder on the Friday then playing in the All-Ireland final on the Sunday.”

Admitting his feelings about the defeat to Kilkenny are still raw, Canning admits he’ll have more time to consider it now that Portumna’s interests in the Galway SHC are over.

He accounts for 2012 as his most enjoyable season in a maroon and white jersey but it doesn’t feel that way right now.

“After the All-Ireland, you had the club to get back to and take your mind off it but we’ve nothing now over the next month or two,” said the 24-year-old who hasn’t yet looked back at the dvd of the game.

“Everything is settling in now and you’re kind of depressed thinking about the last month and a half.

“The better team won and that’s the honest truth. Kilkenny wanted it that small bit more. Their experience, I suppose, came to the fore the second day. They were the better team on the day and we’ve no qualms with that.

“To win Leinster and to get to an All-Ireland final was a good year but only one match counts when you get that far and we’d be disappointed that we didn’t finish off the year.

“If you said at the start of the year you would have probably taken this considering we didn’t get past the quarter-finals for the seven previous years before that.”

In breaking that hoodoo as well as beating Kilkenny and reaching a first final since 2005, Galway supporters have thrown their weight behind the team this year when in other seasons they were sceptical.

“There was a lot more goodwill from the Galway public this year. Even after we lost, there was a great crowd there in Salthill and that was nice to see.

“Earlier on this year, people were questioning whether we’d go far or not but winning the Leinster championship gave a good bit back to the supporters and got them on our side again.

“It was hard for them to be following over the last couple of years when we weren’t performing and weren’t at the right end of results.”

If he’s yet to look back on the replay, he’s already looking forward to 2013 and is a mite worried about second season syndrome hitting Galway.

They’re a known entity now, he warns. “It’s going to be even a harder year because expectation is there from the Galway supporters and the Galway public.

“The likes of Cork, Tipperary will be back strong, Limerick, Clare and Waterford again so it’s going to be a very competitive Championship.”

n Opel Kit for Clubs ambassadors Joe Canning and Liam Rushe will be in Mallow GAA club from 10am to 2pm tomorrow to share their hurling skills with 160 children from seven GAA clubs across Cork.