John O'Dwyer cancels out Joe Canning’s sideline cut in thrilling finish
It looked certain that Joe Canning had struck the winner for Galway when he guided a sideline cut from the right over the bar, but John O’Dwyer fired a brilliant leveller seconds later to give Tipperary something from their trip to Pearse Stadium.
After Tipperary’s early dominance and Niall O’Meara’s goal, Canning and Iarla Tannian strikes resulted in a tit-for-tat battle as the sides exchanged the lead on seven occasions in the second-half.
Tipp manager Michael Ryan admitted he was heartbroken when Canning pointed at the death to give Galway the upperhand, but his side were bailed out by Bubbles’ brilliance.
“We’ll wait for next Sunday to say, but I still think it was a crucial draw. For us, having lost those last couple of tight games when we were in a good position and to come back and get the draw is a step in the right direction for our guys,” said Ryan.
“We were in it right to the end, as were Galway. That lineball was special. He (Canning) is a special player and we’ve seen that time and time again. To witness it from three yards in front of you to break your heart is disappointing.
“It was the performance that will be the most pleasing aspect for us. From our perspective, we have lots to work on. But nonetheless, I really admired the character of the team”
From a Galway perspective, Michéal Donoghue will be pleased with certain aspects of his side’s performance, but their poor return from their own puckouts, the fact that they were bossed at midfield, and another slow start to the game will frustrate the Clarinbridge man.
The first ten minutes were a complete write-off for Galway as Tipperary made the most of the Tribesmen’s slack opening to pull into a 1-3 to 0-1 lead. All the early rucks were won by Tipperary and they were first to everything.
Donoghue cited it as an area that needs immediate improvement: “We were saying at half-time, the last few weeks we didn’t start well in any of the games. We’re working really hard on that with the lads, it’s something we have to work on for the future.”
With Tipperary up against Cork – who are definitely in the relegation play-off – Galway will need to post a big win against Waterford to avoid facing the Rebels in the fight to avoid Division 1B. Donoghue expects Cork to maintain their levels of improvement in what’s essentially a pressure free game for them against Tipp.
“Cork performed really well last night and it’s probably a free game for them and they can go out and perform.
“Cork are a quality side as well. I’ve been saying it throughout the league, Division 1 is really competitive. “Waterford have had a formidable run so we know it’s a big challenge ahead of us but it’s a challenge we’re looking forward to,” said Donoghue.
The Galway boss will be satisfied to see Canning back in great form. His goal in first-half added-time came after a sweet crossfield pass from Aidan Harte, but when he claimed possession on the 45 he had to ride a few tackles before he scored from a tight angle.
At centre-forward Niall Burke finally looks to have shaken off 12 months of injury frustrations and his four points, and three from Jason Flynn, hint at a big summer ahead for that duo. But other than that it was hard to see a standout Galway performer.
Seamus Callanan and Patrick Bonner Maher were both withdrawn when they failed to shake off injuries, and Michael Cahill limped off with a suspected hamstring injury, but Ryan is hopeful all three will be back for the Cork game in Thurles.
“Of all the guys, Bonner would really have loved to play Galway today. Near neighbours and all. He got a knock last Sunday against Waterford and I suppose he should be available next week,” said Ryan.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to use him (Callanan) next week. I know I’ve been saying that for two weeks now, but you can’t rush these things. The player has to be right first. He’s had very little game time so we all need to temper our expectations a little bit and be fair to him.”
J Canning 1-11 (0-8f, 0-1 s-l), N Burke 0-4, J Flynn 0-3, I Tannian 1-0, D Glennon 0-1.
J McGrath 0-6 (0-5f), N O’Meara 1-0, M Breen 0-3, N McGrath 0-3, B Maher 0-2, A Ryan 0-2, J O’Dwyer 0-2, D Quinn 0-1, C Barrett 0-1, P Maher 0-1, B Heffernan 0-1.
J Skehill; F Moore, Daithí Burke, P Hoban; G McInerney, David Burke, A Harte; C Mannion, I Tannian; A Smith, N Burke, D Glennon; J Flynn, J Canning, C Whelan.
R Cummins for Tannian (54), E Burke for Whelan (61), P Brehony for Smith (63).
D Gleeson; C Barrett, T Hamill, M Cahill; B Heffernan, R Maher, P Maher; M Breen, B Maher; N McGrath, K Bergin, D McCormack; J McGrath, A Ryan, N O’Meara.
C O’Brien for Cahill (24), C Kenny for Bergin (h-t), J O’Dwyer for McCormack, D Quinn for Kenny (58).
James Owens (Wexford)
