Galway secure Walsh Cup final place after win over Dublin
FULL STRETCH:Â Galway's Gavin Lee with Glenn Whelan of Dublin. Pic:Â INPHO/Tommy Grealy
A glut of games await Galway in the coming weeks after overcoming Dublin with a strong second-half performance at Parnell Park to secure their Walsh Cup final place.
Henry Shefflin's side still have a game to play in their group and will take on Antrim in Darver, county Louth, next weekend but, regardless of the result, are through to the Croke Park final at the end of the month - the weekend before the National League begins.
Back to back wins over Westmeath and now Dublin mean the Tribesmen can't be caught in their group and, after a ropey start, were good value for this latest victory.
Facing up to new Dublin manager Micheal Donoghue, who led Galway to the 2017 All-Ireland title, the visitors trailed by a point at half-time but dominated the second-half to win by nine.
Free-takers Evan Niland and Donal O'Shea struck 0-11 between them while Portumna's Declan McLoughlin struck the game's only goal at the death.
The sides were level eight times up to 0-10 apiece after 48 minutes but a burst of five Galway points in a row put them in the clear and they never looked back.
Dublin, in truth, were poor and lacked punch in attack with just 0-5 from play in the entire game which ran to well over 80 minutes in the end.
It was virtually an entirely new Dublin team from the side that lined out against Antrim in last weekend's 3-26 to 2-22 Round 1 win, also at Parnell Park.
Naomh Barrog's Joe Flanagan, who struck 0-14 in that game, was the only player retained with the likes of 2022 captain Eoghan O'Donnell, Andrew Dunphy beside him in the full-back line, Fergal Whitely and Conor Burke all making their seasonal debuts.
O'Donnell, who closed out the 2022 inter-county season as a Dublin footballer, was stationed at full-back throughout and marked a series of Galway players as the visiting forward line rotated positions throughout.
As for Galway, they went with all but four of the starting team from the Round 1 demolition of Westmeath; Jack Grealish, Tiernan Killeen, Jason Flynn and Brian Concannon coming into the team.
It was a largely experimental Galway team in general with Grealish, Flynn and Concannon the only starters from last July's All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Limerick retained in the starting lineup.
In cold conditions on a heavy pitch, it was a tough watch initially with the same amount of wides in the first-half, 13, as scores.
Cian O'Sullivan came on for the apparently injured Andrew Jamieson-Murphy and it was O'Sullivan's second point of the half deep into stoppage time that gave Dublin a 0-7 to 0-6 half-time lead.
Flanagan, fresh from a strong debut performance against Antrim, struck three of those Dublin points, all from placed balls.
Niland contributed four of Galway's six points in the opening half with all of those coming from placed balls.
The highlight of the half was arguably O'Donnell's huge hit on Flynn in the 25th minute. Concannon played in Flynn but the big forward's run towards goal was unceremoniously halted by a shuddering shoulder from O'Donnell. Dublin eventually won a free-out and a minor melee ensued though no cards were issued.
Dublin didn't exactly collapse in the second - they played at about the same level and actually yielded a point more than their first-half tally.
It was just that Galway upped the ante, reeling off bursts of three and then five points in a row to open up a 0-15 to 0-10 lead after 55 minutes.
Dublin lacked penetration up front and a killer final pass and their only second-half point from play came in the 76th minute from Conor Donoghue.
Galway, meanwhile, found scores easier to come by and Tom Monaghan impressed when he came on, scoring 0-2, while Ronan Murphy finished with 0-3.
Donal O'Shea moved onto the frees after Niland's 60th minute withdrawal and Portumna man McLoughlin snatched his goal in stoppage time after a searching ball in from Sean O'Hanlon squirmed into his path on the left.
In Saturday's other Walsh Cup clash, Westmeath defeated Antrim by 0-15 to 0-13 in Belfast.
E Niland (0-7, 7 frees); D O'Shea (0-4, 2 frees); D McLoughlin (1-0); R Murphy (0-3); J Flynn, B Concannon, T Monaghan (0-2); J Cooney (0-1).
J Flanagan (0-10, 9f, 1 65); C O'Sullivan (0-2); A Jamieson-Murphy, A Dunphy, C Donoghue (0-1).
D Fahy; J Grealish, J Fitzpatrick, E Lawless; T Killeen, G McInerney, TJ Brennan; R Murphy, S Linnane; J Cooney, J Flynn, D O'Shea; E Niland, B Concannon, M McManus.
D Morrissey for Lawless (14-18, blood); T Monaghan for Linnane (41-44 blood); Monaghan for Linnane, Morrissey for Fitzpatrick (51); G Lee for Murphy (57); M Kennedy for Niland (60); C Mahony for Lawless (65); D McLoughlin for Concannon (67); S Ryan for Brennan (69); S O'Hanlon for Cooney (69).
S Brennan; M Grogan, E O'Donnell, A Dunphy; C Donoghue, C Burke, P Doyle; J Madden, D Leavy; S Currie, J Flanagan, F Whitely; A Considine, P Crummey, A Jamieson-Murphy.
C O'Sullivan for Murphy (21); C Costello for Leavy (h/t); D Gray for Grogan (41); D O Dulaing for Considine (h/t); C O'Leary for Currie (49); L Murphy for Whitely (53); G Whelan for Crummey (59).
P Murphy (Carlow).
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