Kilkenny 1-20
Galway 0-12
A grim grey sky that spat out rain throughout Sunday provided an appropriate backdrop as this truly was a dispiriting afternoon for the Galway hurlers. Being outthought can sometimes be accepted, but being outfought on home turf is never greeted with satisfaction.
The match had finished barely a quarter of an hour when John McIntyre offered a crisp and candid assessment on the game. "We were shocking, our team work was poor. I heard a couple of supporters and officials saying that Galway were gutless today which is extremely worrying.
"This hasn't just happened on my watch it has been over the past three or four years, Galway just haven’t been coming up the standards people think they should be. Obviously we are going to sit down and look up at the make up of our squad, and I would think that significant surgery is going to be carried out over the next three to four weeks.
"I am almost tempted to apologise to the Galway hurling public, the people who paid their €15 in because that is not acceptable, and it is not good enough. I know in my heart of hearts that the players are training excellently, and that they are doing everything we ask of them, but somewhere along the line they are not transferring that on to the field of play.
"On the day Kilkenny were in a different league, in a different class, and they beat us pulling up. Galway are not as good as people think they are. My job is to try to get them up to where some fantasists in Galway think they should be. The reality is that Galway have won All Ireland under 21 titles by winning two matches.
"There have been some excellent underage teams over the years, but they are not reproducing it at senior level. I am hurting, I am hurting on behalf of the team management, and on behalf of the supporters, but the players have got to hurt. Are Galway players accepting defeat to easily?”
Last weekend Kilkenny hurled against a hurricane in the first half, but still went in 0-7 to 0-6 ahead at the turnaround. Galway were ailing, and when Richie Power flicked a delightful goal seconds after the restart the contest lost all rhythm and reason. Kilkenny continued to drill points, Galway flickered, but the evidence wasn’t pleasant for the maroons, who now will wait to see how McIntyre, John Hardiman, Joe Connolly, and John Moylan can revitalise the panel. Still trace through the Galway team, and the spine wasn’t exactly bloated with experience. Eric Ward, Ciaran O’Donovan, Eoin Forde, Cyril Donnellan, and Joe Gantley all occupied central positions so it would be misguided to completely dismiss Galway, and McIntyre insists they can recover. “I think there is mental and psychological damage in that Galway dressing room going back three or four years. It is still not a lost cause. In my capacity as a reporter I have watched Galway dish out hammerings at this time of the year and fall in the championship.
“Maybe I am clutching at straws, but I will promise the Galway hurling public that they will see a different Galway hurling team next summer. The reason why is because they will be battle hardened by these knocks and setbacks and these reverses.”
Kilkenny: PJ Ryan; M Kavanagh, JJ Delaney, J Tyrrell; T Walsh, B Hogan (0-1 ), J Dalton; J Tennyson (0-3 ), PJ Delaney (0-1 ), M Comerford (0-1 ), M Rice (0-4 ), E Larkin (0-2 ), E Brennan (0-1 ), R Power (1-4, 3fs ), M Grace (0-2 ). Subs: W O’Dwyer for Comerford (49 mins ), S Cummins for JJ Delaney (56 mins, yellow ), D Fogarty for PJ Delaney (59 mins ).
Galway: E Ward; D Joyce, C O’Donovan, F Moore; A Coen, G Mahon, S Kavanagh; E Forde, A Cullinane; G Farrager (0-6, 3fs,1 65 ), C Donnellan (0-2 ), D Tierney; N Healy (0-2, 1f ), J Gantley, A Callanan (0-1 ). Subs: F Healy for O Donovan (14 mins, yellow ), K Hynes for Tierney (44 mins ), B Burke for Coen (52 mins ), R Murray (0-1 ) for Gantley (58 mins ).
Referee: J Sexton (Cork ).
Caption: Galway hurling manager John McIntyre.
