Evan Niland inspires Galway to victory over Wexford
BRIGHT START: Shane Reck of Wexford and Evan Niland of Galway shake hands after the Leinster GAA Hurling Senior Championship Round 1 match between Galway and Wexford at Pearse Stadium in Galway. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile
With a wizard’s flourish, Evan Niland enjoyed his breakout game for Galway striking 13 points, seven from play, as they powered past Wexford in the opening round of the Leinster Championship.
In the same fixture last season, Niland was the first player taken off having failed to score in Wexford Park. In Pearse Stadium he finally provided a stern case for a starting spot throughout the campaign. He was near flawless; Galway were far from it.
One of the great GAA cliches will get repeated airings this week: ‘The league is the league.’ The harsh irony of that irrelevant competition is that each team’s performance is likely to face huge revision soon. A positive championship means they planned it perfectly. A dud and in hindsight the writing was on the wall.
For 35 minutes here Wexford successfully defied their league form. They did so without captain Lee Chin, replaced before the start by Charlie McGuckin. This was several degrees above the fare we’ve witnessed so far and both teams contributed handsomely to that calefaction.
TJ Brennan had set the tone with a storming run off Daithi Burke’s shoulder but the traveling contingent responded immediately. A long ball from Liam Óg McGovern was flicked by Conor McDonald and a minute later, Rory O’Connor flattened Jack Grealish and fed McGovern for his own green flag.
Grealish and O’Connor continued to bounce off each other all afternoon long. At the other end Matthew O’Hanlon was welded to Conor Whelan. It took eleven minutes for Sean Stack to award a free yet soon he was forced to flash several yellow cards. McDonald crashed into the chest of Ronan Glennon, minutes later Cathal Mannion did the same to Oisin Foley who was temporarily forced off as a result.
The Henry Shefflin era started against the same opposition last year in contentious circumstances, veering when Conor Cooney was harshly pulled up for his free taking routine and ending in a disappointing draw. For all the frustration that day, the fact was that Galway aided their eventual unravelling.
The same issues unearthed there and further exposed against Kilkenny in the Leinster final continued in Salthill. Whelan struggled to impact the game, starting in midfield for the throw-in before moving closer to goal. They failed to made use of their commanding possession for the majority of the tie and hit 14 wides as well as one off the post.
Darragh Egan was left furious before half-time after a foul on Brian Concannon that Evan Niland converted. He was sprinting up the line livid a minute later when O’Hanlon was adjudged to have flicked the full forward and Niland added another. A long Mannion free broke for Conor Cooney just before the whistle to leave it level.
They made for the tunnel and Galway selector Kevin Lally made for the Wexford boss. Only words were exchanged, only further whetting the appetite for the second period. Unfortunately, it never took off.
When they eventually emerged, it was Stack’s turn to make a move. He approached Egan and brandished another yellow card.
Cathal Mannion struck a corker straight from the throw-in to give Galway the lead. Glennon found Whelan to extend the margin. They were three clear when McGovern took off goalwards and was felled by Burke.
The yellow card proved worthwhile as McDonald hit a woeful penalty at Eanna Murphy. The move ended in a Concannon score at the other end. With that Wexford’s fire was quenched and the fizz vanished from the game.
Jack O’Connor came on and put an end to a 20-minute spell without a score from play. Liam Collins was introduced for a championship debut and marked it with a point. The string of wides lasted and there is plenty to work on ahead of a trip to Nowlan Park next Sunday.
For Galway, it wasn’t perfect. That suits them just fine.
Evan Niland 0-13 (5 frees, 1 65), Brian Concannon 0-2, Conor Cooney 0-2, Conor Whelan 0-2, Cathal Mannion 0-1, TJ Brennan 0-1, Ronan Glennon 0-1, Kevin Cooney 0-1, Liam Collins 0-1.
Liam Óg McGovern 1-2, Rory O’Connor 0-5 (5 frees), Conor McDonald 1-0, Cathal Dunbar 0-2, Conor Hearne 0-1, Matthew O’Hanlon 0-1, Jack O’Connor 0-1.
É Murphy; J Grealish, G McInerney, TJ Brennan; P Mannion, D Burke, J Cooney; R Glennon, C Mannion; T Monaghan, C Cooney, K Cooney; C Whelan, B Concannon, E Niland.
C Fahy for Concannon (temp 55-57), F Burke for Cooney (57), C Fahy for Glennon (61), J Flynn for Concannon (63), L Collins for Mannion (68), D Morrissey for Brennan (69).
J Lawlor; S Reck, L Ryan, C Devitt; M O’Hanlon, C Foley, S Donohue; D O’Keeffe, C Hearne; O Foley, C McGuckin, L Óg McGovern; R O’Connor, C McDonald, C Dunbar.
Jack O’Connor for O Foley (temp 22-26), Jack O’Connor for McGuckin (44), M Dwyer for O’Keeffe (47), R Lawlor for Foley (56), K Foley for Hearne (61), Joe O’Connor for C Foley (70).
S Stack (Dublin)
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