All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship quarter-final
Galway 1-20 Tipperary 1-18
HENRY Shefflin wanted to turn this into a scrap and a test of wills and he got his wish. There’s always a puck of a ball between Galway and Tipperary but this two-point defeat should’ve been so much more.
The Tribesmen blazed 18 wides and saw a hat-trick of goals saved by Rhys Shelly but still refused to be headed by Tipp from the fourth minute onwards, with Conor Whelan scoring 1-4.
“We wanted the game to be a bit tight and tense… to turn into a bit of a grit and a battle,” said Shefflin, who can plan for a semi-final rematch with Limerick next Saturday week.
“It was very evident that Galway jerseys were big and proud tonight and you could see that all over the field.”
The Galway manager believes his troops needed this confidence boost to unlock their full potential.
“They work very hard. I think they believe in themselves a little bit. I’m looking forward to the day that it does click, the self-belief they’ll get out of it.”
Liam Cahill’s Tipp produced a replica of their first-half no-show against Waterford as their much-vaunted full-forward line failed to score. Although John McGrath’s goal put them within a point, they never truly looked like saving their Championship prospects.
“Bitterly disappointed; we just didn’t spark at all today and seemed to be labouring right through the game,” said Cahill.
“Only for two or three great saves we’d have been in even bigger trouble.
“Never mind getting beaten but when you get beaten not firing the way you know you’re capable of, it makes all that bit harder to swallow.”
Cahill said his side were “only hurling in hope” as they gave chase.
“We’ll make changes. We will have to go about putting our own stamp on this,” he added.
“I’ll be rigorously going through the club championship this year to definitely freshen up the panel for next year and definitely look at the young talent that’s out there.
“We’ll go back and we’ll find the right players and make sure we have the players next year when it’s time to kick off all over again.”
Tipperary were blessed to go in just three points down at half-time, 0-10 to 0-7.
Galway flooded bodies back into defence, with Seán Linnane tagging Noel McGrath and Cathal Mannion picking up loose ball.
Their execution was flawed too in a half characterised by aimless passes, whether by hand or stick, and balls dropped, kicked and struck straight over the sideline.
Whelan was passed through the hands of three different markers, Dan McCormack, Cathal Barrett, and Michael Breen, and troubled each of them.
He could’ve had three goals before finding the net within 20 seconds of the restart; his seventh green flag in the last five games.
“I just said at half-time that I felt I was looking at a team that I couldn’t recognise. I felt I didn’t recognise the team that was playing in front of me today,” said Cahill of his team talk.
“In fairness, they came with everything in the second half.”
They fought from eight down, 1-15 to 0-10, to within one but substitute Tom Monaghan (0-3), assisted by Cianán Fahy and Evan Niland, came up with the replies each time. Shelly, once again, had to save from Fahy in the closing stages.
Limerick, welcoming hosts and interested observers, lie in wait next.
“Whoever won tonight was going to be massive underdogs heading into that,” said Shefflin.
“We’ll just have to see if we can make some improvements, get some confidence from tonight, and improve things a little bit because it is a massive challenge.
“At least we’re there.”
Galway É Murphy; D Morrissey, G McInerney, J Grealish; S Linnane, D Burke (0-1), P Mannion; J Cooney (0-1), R Glennon (0-1); B Concannon, C Fahy (0-2), C Mannion; C Whelan (1-4), K Cooney, E Niland (0-8, 0-7 frees)
Subs T Monaghan (0-3) for Glennon (49); C Cooney for Concannon (55); J Flynn for K Cooney (62); F Burke for McInerney (64); L Collins for Fahy (70+3)
Tipperary R Shelly; M Breen (0-1), E Connolly, D McCormack; B O’Mara, R Maher (0-1), C Barrett; C Stakelum, A Tynan (0-2); S Kennedy (0-2), J Forde (0-10, 0-8 frees), N McGrath; J Morris, S Callanan, M Kehoe Subs G O’Connor (0-1) for Callanan (h-t); C Bowe for Kehoe (h-t); Johnny Ryan (0-1) for Stakelum (50); J McGrath (1-0) for N McGrath (53); Jack Ryan for Tynan (70+1).
Referee John Keenan (Wicklow)
Attendance 34,180
