Galway hurlers will take on Limerick in the league semi-finals on Sunday week (April 16 ) following their impressive late comeback and 2-22 to 2-19 win over Waterford last weekend in Pearse Stadium.
Time for the throw-in at the Gaelic Grounds has not yet been announced.
Galway narrowly defeated Limerick in their last 1B league game and Micheál Donoghue will be hoping his charges can achieve another win over the treaty men, and set up a potential clash with either Tipperary or Wexford in the league final that has been fixed for April 23. The more competitive games Galway can play before the start of the Leinster championship against Dublin on May 28, the better.
It took a super last quarter against Waterford to even put Galway into the semi-finals.
They trailed by 10 points with 25 minutes remaining, and it took some magic from GAA hurler of the week Joe Canning to help bring them back from the brink of defeat.
Canning scored 1-10 in total and had an eventful afternoon, including a saved penalty by Ian O’Regan in the first half.
A well-taken goal by Conor Cooney 10 minutes before half-time gave Galway some badly-needed energy as they had been out-played by an efficient Waterford outfit for the first 25 minutes.
When Tom Devine hit two rapid fire goals early in the second half, it put Waterford 2-17 to 1-10 up, and it looked like Galway’s goose was cooked.
However a really positive response by Galway, including points from Canning (4 ), Aidan Harte, Niall Burke and Conor Whelan, brought Galway within three points.
Canning then hit a super penalty after a foul on Cathal Mannion, and points from Padraic Mannion, Harte and David Burke sealed the deal for the home side.
The players will know they need to improve on what they produced in the first half, but at least they have 70 more minutes of hurling on Sunday week. Their resolve to come back from 10 points down was commendable.
Galway: C Callanan, J Hanbury, D Burke, A Harte, P Mannion, GMcInerney, P Killeen, A Tuohy, J Coen, J Cooney, J Canning, D Burke (cpt ), C Whelan, C Cooney, C Mannion. Subs used: T Monaghan for Hanbury (23 ), N Burke for J Cooney (52 ), S Maloney for C Cooney (68 ).
