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Championship wrap: Galway and Waterford mean business

Updated / Thursday, 11 Jun 2015 14:39
For the second time in five weeks, Waterford got the better of Cork
For the second time in five weeks, Waterford got the better of Cork

The hurling championship they say is a gift that keeps on giving and it looks like the 2015 renewal will be no different. We still await Kilkenny and Tipperary’s arrival on this year’s scene, but having watched Galway and Waterford record impressive wins over the weekend, the race for Liam MacCarthy looks as competitive as ever.

Tribesmen’s early flurry floors Dublin

Being a Galway supporter can be frustrating endeavour. For all their underage talent, it’s now 27 years since they last won an All-Ireland senior title. Saturday’s blitzing of Dublin in their Leinster quarter-final replay was a throwback to the Westerners at their real best – a reminder of what they did against Kilkenny in the 2012 Leinster final.

After 19 minutes, Anthony Cunningham’s side had 3-10 on the board. Cathal Mannion was Dublin’s tormentor in chief, rifling in the three goals. Joe Canning helped himself to two green flags in the second period. The Portumna man was back to his best in Tullamore; a constant threat on the edge of the square while also displaying some deft touches.

Quite simply, Galway wanted it more than Dublin. Ger Cunningham’s men never had time to settle on the ball and the failure to convert two first-half penalties also served to dent their confidence.

Galway will now be favourites to reach a Leinster final which will keep them in the All-Ireland race until at the end of July at least. Speaking on The Sunday Game, Anthony Daly said: “If Galway can get back to the mentality of 2012, they’ll rattle everybody."

For Dublin, the future is somewhat uncertain and after some crushing defeats in the league, many questions will be asked ahead of the qualifiers. Ger Cunningham’s side may have their work cut out to reach the All-Ireland quarters.   

Maurice the man as the Déise win again

The Derek McGrath revolution continues to gather more momentum as Waterford remain unbeaten in 2015 after deservedly beating Cork to reach the Munster final.

There were doubts about Maurice Shanahan’s fitness before the match, but the Lismore clubman allayed any fears with a superb display that yielded 1-09 to help his side record a 3-19 to 1-21 victory.

Shanahan, who took over the free-taking duties from the injured Pauric Mahony, dedicated  the Semple Stadium victory to the latter, while also stating with some intent that “Waterford want to win a Munster title.”

The Déise are definitely going places; they are exciting to watch and once they rattled in two quick goals just shy of the half hour, their tails were up. A strong start to the second period also underlined their growing dominance and the subs they brought on made worthwhile contributions.

The fact that Cork keeper Anthony Nash was perhaps their best player tells its own story.

Jimmy Barry-Murphy will be worried at the way his defence seemed to crumble when Waterford upped the ante.

That said, the Rebels were never too far adrift in the second period, but seemed to lack the leadership in their quest to reel their opponents in.

Another day to savour for Cheddar

Laois hurlers are in a Leinster semi-final after an eight-point win over Offaly at O’Moore Park.

After 24 minutes, the Faithful County led by 0-10 to 0-06, but the home side fired over eight points in succession to take a firm grip on the game and build up a lead they would never relinquish.

Zane Keenan top-scored for the victors with 0-11 and they can now look forward to a date with Galway in the last-four. It’s the third consecutive year that the sides have met in Leinster and Galway had to dig really deep in those clashes to eek out a victory. 

After the game Laois manager Seamus ‘Cheddar’ Plunkett urged the wider people out there to take notice of his side. He told RTÉ Sport: "If Laois supporters and ourselves think that this is the height of our ambition, we’re going to go nowhere anyway. We need to go back and get our feet on the ground here and get back to doing the things that got us here in the first place.”

The controversy of Cheddar walking away from his post a fortnight ago seems a distant memory now.

Wexford get the job done

The hurlers of Wexford made great strides in 2014 and a further test of their progress will come in two weeks' time when they take on Kilkenny at Nowlan Park.

Their 1-24 to 1-16 victory on Sunday against Westmeath was far from convincing and in the last 15 minutes they played second final to Michael Ryan’s side.

Ian Byrne top-scored for the victors with 1-07, while Paul Morris and Conor McDonald also chipped in with key scores.

Lilywhites bloom late on to salvage a draw

Three points in the final five minutes ensured that Kildare are still in the Leinster Football Championship after their 0-16 to 0-16 against Laois at O’Moore Park.

After a horrid spring that saw them relegated to Division 3, Lilywhites boss Jason Ryan will be pleased by the character that his side showed.

Looking ahead to the replay both counties feel they have things to improve on.

Laois’ Donie Kingston told RTÉ: "In championship football, you have to play to the very end and that’s the thing we’ll take from today.

“Both teams hit bad wides with the wind and you have to make any advantage count.

"We’ll sit down and have a look at the video and see where exactly where we went wrong."

Kildare’s Emmet Bolton bemoaned the concession of "handy frees" in the Lilywhites’ play.

"We must bring our free count down and our transition from defence to attack will have to improve. We got turned over far too often and I don't think our shot selection was good enough.

"I'm confident we can make the necessary improvements. We have a good panel of players and they'll be many guys pushing for starting places the next day." 

A harsh sending off?

Up at Celtic Park, Derry edged out Down by a point to book their place in the Ulster semi-final. The sending off of Down defender Conaill McGovern was the main talking point from the Celtic Park encounter and for a while after his dismissal the tempo of the game really fell flat.

Down red card against Derry


When the players finally roused themselves it was the Mournemen who looked most likely to win the game, but some bad misses cost them dearly. Eoin Bradley hit over a 71st minute free to seal the deal for Brian McIver’s side.  

Derry will have to improve a lot before the Ulster semi-final. They are quite frustrating to watch, despite the presence of Bradley and Enda Lynn in their ranks. 

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