Long-range snipers hit target for Galway
From a distance, Galway ended their 29-year wait for the Liam MacCarthy Cup with a show of middle to long range shooting that could only be described as sumptuous.
Waterford are a team who have long since shed their skin as the great entertainers but then Galway too have become more pragmatic. No longer are they glutton for goals when they appreciate they have enough artillery to win from range. Including yesterday, they’ve played over 300 minutes of championship hurling since Conor Cooney broke through a gaggle of players from a Colm Callanan delivery to find the Town End net in Tullamore.
On occasions this summer Galway have overdone it, shooting on sight too much, but here Cooney exemplified the attack’s great decision-making, picking off three points when the wisest choice was to aim for the posts. He did add a late wide but he could be forgiven as his - and the accuracy of the Galway team from Johnny Coen forward - was exemplary.
By the 31st minute, everyone from Coen to Cathal Mannion, with the exception of Johnny Glynn who struggled against Barry Coughlan, had contributed a score from play. Joe Canning, after 20 seconds, Coen, Joe Cooney, Cathal Mannion, Conor Cooney and an unmarked David Burke had all fired over a point each in the first eight minutes and it wasn’t until after another eight minutes that an umpire had reason to find fault with a Galway scoring attempt.
Waterford could have been overwhelmed but scored the first of the game’s two goals in the fifth minute. Kevin Moran beat Callanan on his near side having been set through by Michael Walsh. It was Moran, assisted by Shane Fives, who scored Waterford’s second point from play in the 11th minute following a free by Pauric Mahony for an Adrian Tuohy foul on Shane Bennett.
Cutting the gap to one, the Munster men appeared to have settled only for Galway to register the next three points. Cathal Mannion sent over his second point as did Canning after a Glynn pass and then Conor Cooney once more exhibited his accuracy in the 14th minute.
Waterford’s good work-rate in the middle began to provide them with platforms and Walsh was provider again for a Pauric Mahony score before he added one of his own after some good digging by Jake Dillon.
David Burke rifled over his second point in the 21st minute to make it 0-10 to 1-4 just prior to Kieran Bennett’s freak goal. His brother Shane, about to be replaced after a leg problem, did well to put off Callanan who fumbled the ball which Bennett had pumped in.
Undeservedly, Waterford found themselves on equal terms. Austin Gleeson then thumped Gearóid McInerney with a shoulder it appeared a signal that Waterford had arrived. Except it was Canning who raised the next white flag from a sideline cut and while Mahony cancelled it out with a free for a Tuohy foul on Jake Dillon Conor Whelan then managed to find some space away from the ultra-sticky Noel Connors to point. Joe Cooney followed it up with another, punishing a poor Darragh Fives pass.
Jamie Barron could have taken a point in the 35th minute but chose to try and put Moran in the clear only to be intercepted. He did, though, make amends seconds later and backed it up with another when he completed a one-two with Walsh. Waterford’s balloon was deflated when Shane Fives was adjudged to have impeded Conor Cooney and Canning, with his first from a free, ensured Galway took a merited lead into the break, 0-14 to 2-7.
A Mahony free levelled the game once more two minutes into the second half and while Canning answered it with one of his own the next couple were Mahony’s, the first from play after great Barron work and the second from a free. In the 43rd minute, Waterford were finally ahead but it didn’t last long, Canning penalised a foul by Shane Fives on Niall Burke, who had only entered the fray.
Mahony put Waterford’s noses in front once more as Maurice Shanahan fed the ball out to him. David Burke quickly replied but again Waterford took a lead, Mahony pointing a free for John Hanbury touching the ball on the ground. At 2-12 to 0-17, it was Waterford making the better noises and Moran looked a dead cert to put more space between the sides only to strike the ball wide. It proved to be a deadly miss as Niall Burke squared things up once more and then added a second a minute later.
As Waterford began to struggle to retrieve their own puck-outs, Canning split the posts with a free from distance in the 51st minute, David Burke notched his fourth point to open a three-point gap. Waterford, through substitute Brian O’Halloran and a Mahony free, made it a one-point game by the 56th minute although Galway’s reaction was almost instantaneous as another replacement, Jason Flynn, got in on the scoring act.
Three minutes after his introduction, Tommy Ryan blazed over a fine point that injected life into the Waterford support. However, just as Shane Fives appeared to have won a free after being reefed back he was blown for seemingly over-carrying. Canning needed no invitation with the free, Conor Cooney turning expertly to add another point and when Flynn hit his second Galway were beyond touching distance.
Another Mahony free did bring Waterford back into the sight but a Tadhg de Búrca foul on Niall Burke allowed Canning to push Galway beyond them again in the last minute of regulation time. In the first additional minute, Mahony responded again after Ryan was fouled and as Waterford chased a goal Ryan did have a late shot blocked but there would be no stopping Galway. Nine different scorers, 19 scores from play to Waterford’s 11, it would have been a shame had they been.
J. Canning (0-9, 0-6 frees, 0-1 sideline); David Burke (0-4); C. Cooney (0-3); C. Mannion, J. Cooney, N. Burke, J. Flynn (0-2 each); J. Coen, C. Whelan (0-1 each).
Pauric Mahony (0-11, 8 frees); K. Moran (1-1); K. Bennett (1-0); J. Barron (0-2); M. Walsh, B. O’Halloran, T. Ryan (0-1 each).
C. Callanan; Daithí Burke, P. Mannion; A. Harte; A. Tuohy, G. McInerney, J. Hanbury; J. Coen, David Burke (c); J. Cooney, C. Mannion, J. Canning; C. Whelan, J. Glynn, C. Cooney.
N. Burke for J. Glynn (43); J. Flynn for C. Mannion (55); S. Maloney for David Burke (69);
S. O’Keeffe; S. Fives, B. Coughlan, N. Connors; T. de Búrca; Philip Mahony, K. Bennett, D. Fives; J. Barron, K. Moran (c); M. Walsh, A. Gleeson, Shane Bennett; J. Dillon, Pauric Mahony.
M. Shanahan for Shane Bennett (inj 23); B. O’Halloran for J. Dillon (49); T. Ryan for M. Walsh (56); C. Dunford for J. Barron, P. Curran for K. Bennett (both 65).
F. Horgan (Tipperary).
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