The Galway senior hurlers are on the road yet again this weekend as they travel south to take on a free-scoring Cork side on Saturday night in the final round of the national league (throw-in 7.30pm ), with a place in the final up for grabs if Micheál Donoghue’s side can come away with a win.
Last weekend’s win for Kilkenny over Limerick confirmed the Cats are now safe in Division 1A and sealed the relegation of both Wexford and Clare, while Limerck no longer have to worry about the distraction of a final ahead of their Munster championship opener away to Tipperary on April 20.
Current table toppers Tipperary await the victors of Saturday’s contest, while a draw will ensure Cork’s progression. Pat Ryan’s side have only lost one game to date, away to Tipperary, while they recorded victories over Wexford, Kilkenny, and Clare and drew with Limerick.
On a day of multiple red cards, Cork tore Clare to shreds in their latest game, amassing a remarkable score of 6-20. Their array of pacy forwards are a menacing prospect to have to deal with, with Brian Hayes netting a hat-trick in Cusack Park while Declan Dalton and Shane Barrett also raised green flags.
Galway, by contrast, suffered a heavy twelve-point defeat away to Limerick last time out, and will be looking for plenty of improvement from that outing. Conor Cooney’s second half sending off certainly didn’t help matters, but Galway appeared some way off the pace set by a determined home side.
Galway never led on a night where their lack of accuracy in front of the posts let them down, while Shane O’Brien’s 1-2 in the second quarter opened up a cushion for John Kiely’s side that Galway never really looked like bridging on a sobering evening for travelling supporters.
While this may have been another instance where the more inexperienced players in the group can hopefully learn plenty from the experience, Cathal Mannion’s return to the pitch after a lengthy injury lay-off and immediate impact on proceedings was the one notable positive for Donoghue from the game.
A large and vocal home support will be expected as Cork incredibly go in search of their first league title since 1998, and the players will surely be looking to honour the memory of their manager’s brother and former player Ray, who sadly passed away last month.
The odds are firmly stacked against a successful outing for Galway, but a more competitive performance would at least provide strands of hope ahead of the less daunting atmosphere of the Leinster championship.
