The Galway senior hurlers return to National Hurling League action after two weekends off on Saturday afternoon when they travel to the south-east to take on Wexford at 5pm.
The first of three away trips for Micheál Donoghue’s men, a win for Galway will propel them into serious contention for a top-two finish in Division 1A.
Galway haven’t played in a league decider since 2017, their last league title picked up in the shadows in 2021 when they shared it with Kilkenny. Donoghue prefers to keep his cards as close to his chest as possible, but with two weeks between the league final and a blockbuster Leinster championship opener away to Kilkenny, the Clarinbridge native may see this an opportunity for an evolving team to claim silverware.
Wexford, by contrast, know that they need at least one more win from their final two games to escape relegation back to the second tier, but they come into this contest off the back of a notable win over Clare in Cusack Park last Sunday. Lee Chin’s return to action was the main talking point and he chipped in with five points, but Cian Byrne’s excellent free-taking and Seamus Byrne’s well-taken second half goal were also pivotal in Keith Rossiter’s side’s 1-23 to 1-17 victory.
A Tony Kelly goal in the opening minutes seemed to have given Clare the ideal start as they welcomed some well-known names back into the fray, but Chin gave John Conlon a hard time of it and Wexford overcame playing against the wind in the second half plus a harsh sending off for Byrne to record their first win of the campaign.
With only a trip to Limerick left on their task sheet after this game, Rossiter will be eyeing another morale-boosting performance on Saturday after earlier losses to Cork, Kilkenny and Tipperary. His charges had the upper hand against the Tribesmen in 2024, winning a Walsh Cup final and Leinster championship group game, coincidentally by eight points on both occasions.
The championship clash was a chastening experience for Galway as Wexford out-worked them in most sectors in a must-win encounter for the home side, an aspect Donoghue will surely be looking to rectify as the likes of Tom Monaghan, Gavin Lee, and Cianan Fahy look to further cement their new positions in the side.
Galway’s last league game against Clare was shrouded in sadness after the untimely passing of the legendary Michael Coleman. A second quarter surge from the home side paved the way for a comfortable victory, with Loughrea’s Anthony Burns marking his first league appearance with a personal haul of 2-3 which helped earn him the GAA’s player of the week award.
Daithí Burke was removed early on as a precaution and it will be hugely interesting to see how Donoghue lines up his troops after the break.
Will Daniel Loftus, Cillian Trayers, John Fleming, and Burns be given further opportunities to hold their own, or will Kevin Cooney, Sean Linnane, Fintan Burke and maybe even David Burke be recalled to starting fifteen?
