Galway qualified for their ninth Leinster championship final with quite a bit to spare (0-27 to 0-21 ) last Saturday evening in Pearse Stadium, as Conor Whelan’s second half haul of five points helped propel the Tribesmen to victory over Dublin.
Ahead by just one at half time, but having played against the wind, Galway’s third quarter efforts were good enough to open up a significant lead against a limited Dublin side. Galway manager Henry Shefflin was delighted with the outcome in the end, but knows the hard work only starts now.
“First half wasn’t brilliant”, Shefflin admitted, “but I thought we worked hard, and we had ourselves in a good position with the breeze in the second half. Conor Whelan obviously came to the fore in that second half and helped us to give us that bit of cushion heading down the home straight.
“The first half never really flowed, there was a lot of bodies around the middle third, so if you break a line and you see Johnny’s hand going up, I suppose he weas probably trying to play advantage, but it never really materialised for either team so that means it was called back.
“There was a strong breeze out there and we knew that we would have to work very hard. I thought our pattern of play wasn’t brilliant, but I thought our work rate was extremely high. That was very pleasing, we turned them over a lot and won a few frees from that aspect of it.”
Thoughts quickly turn to a Leinster final date on Saturday, June 4, for what should be a cracking contest against Kilkenny, and Shefflin is well aware that his side’s recent win over the Cats will have little bearing on the outcome.
“For us it’s about recovery, seeing how the knocks are, reassess things and look forward to the next game. I think every game takes on a life of its own. It’s a cliché, but it is so true. I would imagine there would be different personnel on the field. It’s a final, it’s another game. We’ll prepare for it and the best team will win thereafter.”
GALWAY: É Murphy; P Mannion, Daithí Burke, J Grealish; F Burke (0-2, 1 ‘sl ), G McInerney, D Morrissey; David Burke, T Monaghan; C Fahy (0-1 ), C Cooney (0-13, 12fs ), J Cooney (0-2 ); B Concannon (0-1 ), C Whelan (0-5 ), C Mannion (0-3 ). Subs: J Flynn for Fahy (57 ), J Coen for Monaghan (60 ), R Glennon for David Burke (62 ), T Killeen for P Mannion (67 ), E Niland for Concannon (69 ).
DUBLIN: S Brennan; J Bellew, E O'Donnell, C O’Callaghan; D Gray, P Smyth, A Dunphy; J Madden, C Crummey (0-1 ); D Burke (0-14, 9fs ), R McBride (0-2 ), C Burke (0-1 ); F Whitely, E Dillon (0-1 ), D Sutcliffe (0-1 ). Subs: R Hayes for Madden (10, blood ), Madden for Hayes (11 ), Hayes for Madden (15 ), Madden for Dunphy (40 ), P Crummey (0-1 ) for Sutcliffe (56 ), C Currie for Whitely (56 ), D Ryan for Gray (61 ).
REFEREE: J Murphy (Limerick ).
