Selector Noel Larkin insists seeds of doubt never took hold for Tribesmen
There have been just two occasions during Micheál Donoghue’s tenure where Galway suffered back-to-back defeats.
The first was midway through the spring of 2016, a largely insignificant blip, as the new management were still getting their feet under the table having landed the job just three days before Christmas.
The second was March of this year. Limerick, first off, rocked up to Salthill to scupper the promotion bid of their hosts. Wexford, a fortnight later, ended their league title defence. It was during the former outing where Galway’s disrupted off-season was exposed for all to see, the Tribesmen letting slip a nine-point lead when losing the second half by 1-11 to 0-4.
It wasn’t so much a case of dirty petrol following a winter of bringing Liam MacCarthy to the four corners of the county, and much further beyond, rather there didn’t look to be any gas in the tank at all.
Selector Noel Larkin’s confidence that the team would come right never wavered in the face of these two setbacks. More importantly, though, was that the players kept faith that what they were doing would make up lost ground and they never allowed the seeds of doubt to take root.
We knew we were behind and confident we’d get it right, in the end,” Larkin insists.
“It was disappointing to lose both games and, at half-time in the Wexford game at Wexford Park, with a great crowd behind us, we absolutely wanted to win it.
“We lost Jack Coyne to a red card that day, so we were down a man for the last 20 minutes, but we were happy we brought them to the last few minutes and lost by (three), so we weren’t by any means panicking or anything.”
Losing the Division 1B decider to Limerick was “very disappointing”, according to Larkin, but he knows the team benefited from operating in the second tier this spring. Win again on Sunday and they’ll be similarly pleased to find themselves off-Broadway when the league throws-in next January.
“It’s common knowledge we were late back and had a bit of celebrating to do, which I would gladly do this year again. The games in Division 1A were ultra competitive and no matter what hurling you are playing, you want to win every game. Even though you might not be in peak physical condition, your mindset takes over and you want to win, so it was no harm that we were away from the limelight while we were trying to get our fitness.
[Promotion] wasn’t meant to be, but I think Limerick have only lost two competitive games this year, which is a testament to them. They took Tipp to extra time in the league and the Clare game was their only defeat in the championship. It is no surprise that they are in the final.
Ask Larkin where the Tribesmen have improved from 2017 and he immediately points to the panel’s greater depth.
“During extra-time in the drawn game against Clare at Croke Park, I looked around and there were four All-Stars on the bench for whatever reason; taken off, injury, or emptied the tank. We have used 26 players this year in the championship and we have great depth in the squad. Against Clare in extra-time, our panel got us over the line. More depth is something we looked at and we are happy enough where we are going on that score.”
Needing a second day out against Clare means they’ve been left with a relatively quick turnaround for the final, which is far from ideal for players.
If it wasn’t for the extensive September experience in the camp — Johnny Coen, David Burk,e and Joe Canning will make their fifth final appearance this Sunday — Larkin, who coached Portumna to All-Ireland club glory in 2014, would be concerned the decider was arriving at least one week too soon.
“The fact we have the experience of last year definitely makes a massive difference. Two weeks is probably not enough time, otherwise.”
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