Galway 2-22 Waterford 2-19
Joe Canning inspired a stunning comeback from Galway in the last 12 minutes to help his side into an Allianz Hurling League semi-final against Limerick.
Canning hit 1-10 for the Tribesmen and converted a penalty six minutes from time to draw his side level – he also had a first-half penalty saved – while Padraic Mannion and Aidan Harte hit the winning points in the closing stages.
Two goals in a minute from Tom Devine appeared to have given Waterford the win as they led by 2-19 to 1-15 with 14 minutes to go, but, inspired by Canning and sub Niall Burke, Galway hit an unanswered 1-7 to take the unlikely win.
Canning was sent off in added-time after he earned a second yellow card, but he also worryingly limped from the field.
Last weekend Galway got off to a slow start against Limerick and they eventually claimed a win to sign off their Division 1B campaign. But this afternoon at Pearse Stadium they trailed by 0-6 to 0-0 after ten minutes and by 0-10 to 0-2 after 18 minutes.
It was a desperate start from the Tribesmen who struggled under the high ball at the back, displayed a sub-par first touch, and hit five wides in the first quarter.
Starting in the full-forward line but with the No 9 on his back Tommy Ryan caused havoc early on, and drew the free that saw Maurice Shanahan launch the Waterford scoring in the second minute. After a brief lull, Stephen Bennett, Tommy Ryan, DJ Foran, Kevin Moran and Stephen Roche all hit unanswered points form play for the Déise.
After a week out of the Galway match-day squad Conor Whelan was in blistering form for the Tribesmen and it was his score in the 12th minute that finally got them off the mark, but Waterford were full deserving of an eight-point lead when Shanahan drilled over his third free.
Galway should have pushed themselves back into the tie after 21 minutes but Joe Canning saw his penalty saved by Ian O’Regan, nevertheless, from there to the interval it was Galway who looked the sharper side.
Conor Cooney’s goal 11 minutes from the break lifted their hopes and after a Canning free and Cathal Mannion’s point, Whelan landed a great score from the sideline to cut the lead to four.
Roche stopped the Galway run of points at the other end, but the Tribesmen added three more before the break as Waterford led by 0-15 to 1-9 at half-time.
Devine’s first goal came in the 43rd minute after a brilliant pass form Mark O’Brien sent him on his way, while less than a minute later he got in behind Daithi Burke and finished low past Colm Callanan, who had denied Stephen Bennett with a brilliant save a couple of minutes earlier.
But like the did in the first-half Waterford had a lengthy lull and four points in a row from Joe Canning close the home side to within six points with 15 minutes remaining.
Devine looked to have hit the insurance score for his side in the 56th minute, but they failed to score after that as Canning and Niall Burke inspired the Tribesmen to a memorable win.
Canning picked up his second yellow of the game in the 72nd minute, but it was his impact that saw the Tribesmen into the last four, where they will face Limerick in a fortnight’s time.
Galway: C Callanan; J Hanbury, Daithi Burke, A Harte (0-02); P Mannion (0-01), G McInerney, P Killeen; A Tuohy, J Coen; J Cooney, J Canning (1-10, 0-04 frees), David Burke (0-01); C Whelan (0-03), C Cooney (1-00), C Mannion (0-02).
Subs: T Monaghan (0-01) for Hanbury (23 mins), N Burke (0-02) for J Cooney (54 mins), S Maloney for C Cooney (68 mins).
Waterford: I O’Regan; K Bennett, S McNulty, S Fives; C Gleeson, T de Búrca, S Keating (0-01); K Moran (0-02), M O’Brien (0-01); Stephen Bennett (0-01), S Roche (0-03), DJ Foran (0-02); T Ryan (0-02), M Shanahan (0-06, 0-04 frees), T Devine (2-01).
Subs: Shane Bennett for Foran (52), N Connors for Keating (55), M Walsh for O’Brien (58), B O’Halloran for Ryan (59), P Mahony for Roche (61).
Referee: Barry Kelly (Westmeath)
