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Galway's astonishing championship campaign

Galway are back on top of the hurling pile
Galway are back on top of the hurling pile

Galway have finally returned to the promised land after 29 years of disappointments and near misses.

Unlike previous seasons where their prospects were clouded in doubt, Galway were close to perfection throughout this season as they complete the treble.

They took the direct route to the final, and after an impressive start against Waterford in the decider, the Tribesmen were on their way to a first All-Ireland hurling title since 1988.

Their National League campaign showed encouraging signs for the Tribesemen. And comfortably defeating Tipperary in the league final, they brought that rich vein of form into the championship.

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28 May: Dublin - Leinster Quarter-Final 

Their first assignment in the Leinster championship pitted them against a considerably weakened Dublin team, due to losses in personnel.

Galway's Padraic Mannion surges past Dublin's David Treacy

As predicted, it turned out to be a simple task for Micheál Donoghue's side, as they inflicted a 2-28 to 1-17 pummeling on Dublin.

Jason Flynn finished that game with a personal tally of 1-02, while Conor Cooney hit 1-03.

18 June: Offaly - Leinster semi-final

Next up for Galway was a clash with Offaly in Portlaoise, where they clocked up a score of 33 points.

Corner forward Conor Whelan was particularly impressive in that outing, hitting seven points from play against an Offaly side who were obliterated by a far superior outfit.

2 July: Wexford - Leinster final

After the Model county scored a shock win over Kilkenny, it was expected that Galway would have their first real test of the season in the Leinster final.

And to their credit, Davy Fitzgerald's side brought the fight to Galway in the first half, and were just three points adrift at the break.

But Galway turned on the afterburners after the restart as they posted seven points without reply. Wexford tried to engineer a comeback, but the damage was done and Galway cruised to a second Leinster title.

6 August : Tipperary - All-Ireland semi-final

That win over Wexford bought Galway a ticket to the All-Ireland semi-final where they were reunited with old foes Tipperary.

The pair battled it out in the previous two All-Ireland semi-finals with Galway taking first blood in 2015, before Tipperary exacted revenge the following year.

Galway claimed victory in the third installment of their semi-final rivlary, with Joe Canning nailing this long range effort from the sideline to send his side through to the decider.

RTÉ's Darren Frehill certainly liked what he saw at the time.

3 September: Waterford - All-Ireland final

Some of the All-Ireland winning Galway team

And then there were two. Galway and Waterford contested the 2017 All-Ireland final, with the former side emerging as narrow victors.

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