Cork focus and Galway's redemption: The big takeaways from final-day hurling action
BOLT FROM THE BLUE: The Galway defence is beaten for Dublin's first goal, scored by Rian McBride. Pic: Ray McManus/Sportsfile
In the aftermath of a one-sided 12-point defeat, Micheál Donoghue made it clear where the bar for his Galway team is.
“We know first and foremost, it's not an acceptable performance,” he said outside of the away dressing room. It was hard to see where a Galway team devoid of confidence or composure would go next.
To their credit, Galway responded with four wins in a row. They now face a rematch against the Leinster kingpins with plenty on the line. The last time they played in the showpiece, Cillian Buckley broke their hearts. At the time, they had one win in their previous 12 matches at Croke Park.
Galway haven’t won a Leinster crown since 2018. Kilkenny are on the cusp of a six-in-a-row. The province needs a strong contender outside of the Cats. Since that sorry opening fixture, Galway have solved several problems. The full-back line is now settled. Gavin Lee has cemented his spot at six. David Burke is a crucial leader in the middle. Cathal Mannion was kept scoreless from play, but Man of the Match Brian Concannon and Conor Whelan picked up the slack. Their response so far has been excellent. Now they need to accelerate it.
The stage is set.
Throughout the first half, Brendan Cummins cut a puzzled figure. Waterford were playing with a gale but dropped bodies out the pitch and went in at the break one point behind. Why might they have persisted with such a striking tactic?
Under Pat Ryan, much of Cork’s surge over the past 12 months has stemmed from their puckout. That long ball on top of Brian Hayes, with a variety of pacey runners feeding off him has been a huge weapon. Waterford elected to counter it by crowding the middle and tempting Patrick Collins to go short. In the end, Cork scored 0-8 from their own puckout. Six points stemmed from long puckouts, but Waterford also sourced four points in return.
This comes one week after Limerick destroyed Cork’s puckout in the Gaelic Grounds. Kyle Hayes’ move into centre-back and the wind was a factor in that as well. On the evidence of the last seven days, Ryan and his management team need to find a way to tempt Limerick’s cover up the pitch and create space for their devastating inside three. They have two weeks to come up with a method.
Well, what did you make of that? This has been a curious championship. Think about the nature of some conversations we’ve been having in recent weeks. A taxing schedule. The black card and big referee decisions. On Sunday, Pat Ryan was asked if they had a hard training block before the Limerick game last week.
Think about that. A sold-out Gaelic Grounds. One of the biggest rivalries in Irish sport. The leading two contenders in the All-Ireland race. And a legitimate question to one of the managers about whether or not he’d gone for it.
The Munster championship had two crackers thanks to Tipperary and their showing against Limerick and Clare. Kilkenny vs Dublin last week was gripping, but otherwise, 2025 has been a letdown so far. The story of the season is Kildare. They are now one of eight teams left in the Liam McCarthy Cup.
The reasons for this disappointing campaign are complicated and numerous. Schedules, the lack of enough genuine contenders and fortune all play a part. All that said, there is a sense that both provincial finals have to deliver this year. The Munster hurling final is scheduled for Saturday, June 7 this year with the Leinster decider on the next day. It has the makings of an immense weekend for hurling fanatics. They need it to be.
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