Much of the talk has been surrounding Limerick’s strength in depth, but there has been little made of Galway’s contributions from the bench.
Galway subs have contributed 6-29 across the championship. The Galway bench has made its impact felt right from the off in this championship campaign. Of the 2-17 scored from the Tribesman bench across the first four games of the summer, Tom Monaghan was responsible for 1-5 and Darragh Neary shot 0-5.
Those contributions paved the way for that duo to break into the starting XV by the end of the Leinster championship. And what a revelation they have been.
This is where Conor Cooney has come to the fore, shouldering the bench impact responsibility. Cooney has made a mammoth contribution having amassed 4-12 of that 6-29 tally. In each of the last three games, he’s come in and raised green flags.
The 33-year-old is the longest serving member of Micheál Donohue’s squad and his mentality has been top class, coming on to carry on the work of his junior teammates with ruthless efficiency. With no changes expected to Galway’s All-Ireland final starting team, Cooney will again be the first forward introduced by Donohue.
Should this contest be in the melting pot, you would not bet against the St Thomas’ clubman from making yet another match-defining contribution in Croker on Sunday afternoon.
