Galway will be hard to stop
Prevention of early goals certain to be a crucial factor
I AM sitting here writing this article in Galway of all places, and my brief stay in the ‘City of the Tribes’ has given me an appreciation of the different type atmosphere that currently sweeps the county when you compare to Wexford.
The conversation here consistently reverts back to All-Irelands and it really emphasises to me that anything short of that goal in 2017 will be deemed a failure for the men in maroon.
There is a huge anticipation for what the year can bring and a great hurling buzz within the county, but certainly not at the frenzied levels of home.
I think it is to our advantage that we are going to Croker next week in bonus territory with the pressure very much on Micheál Donoghue and his men.
I for one am enjoying the hurling atmosphere in Wexford and I think everyone should really embrace the next week as the old days return and we travel to the capital in our thousands to bring back Bob.
I know every hurling county has fanatical and colourful supporters but I always rate ourselves and Cork as being up there with the best, and it is great to see both counties coming very much back into the frame this year.
My father handed me my hurling passion and I remember travelling to Croker for the Leinster final of 1984 with my late brother-in-law Niall Glynn (who coinciden- tally had strong Galway connections) and Fintan Farrell.
We were coming down the hill towards Rathnew (who will ever forget that bottleneck on match day?) when Niall’s cream Cortina took a bit of a turn for the worse and we had to pull in to investigate the malfunction as the traffic trickled by.
We looked under the car to address the problem (anyone that knows me will appreciate that, look is all I did) and were on the side of the road for about five minutes.
Eventually the problem was sorted but when I looked back to tell everyone to load up my father was sitting in the back of a car which he had flagged down.
He took a bit of persuading to get back into Niall’s car, as his only thought was to get to the Holy Grail and didn’t understand what the fuss was about.
It was a little incident which underlined for me the passion in Wexford hearts for their hurlers. I have a feeling we will see this in bucket-loads around Jones’ Road on Sunday.
Galway on this year’s form are the best hurling team in the country and a look at their forward division which contains giant-like figures suggest they will be difficult to stop.
That Joe Canning is key will surprise no one and he is playing a slightly different role this year. Playing at 11, he moves out the field and then pinpoints his full-forwards with excellent ball.
Galway will see this ploy as key in nullifying the effectiveness of the excel- lent Shaun Murphy. No doubt Matthew O’Hanlon will man-mark here and this will be a key battle in the outcome.
Galway have sorted their central defence problems with Daithí Burke now a peerless full-back, but the question still remains which Galway will show up on the day.
We know what to expect from our own team having shown a great consistency in both games against the Cats, and everyone seems very comfortable in their roles. A key element is to prevent Galway goals early.
Despite the failure to raise a green against Offaly, they have regularly cut through defences at headquarters and we will have to be at our best defensively from the off.
Conor McDonald’s availability is vital and with Jack Guiney flying high we can cause problems at the other end ourselves.
It will be interesting to gauge our suitability to the open spaces and big sheds and make no mistake, we are in for a very physical battle from a team that isn’t lacking in six footers.
The bookies are rarely wrong and see the westerners as outright favourites, but rule nothing out from Davy and his young charges. Regardless of the result, it will be some occasion.
The good days are back and if we happen to get the result I will see you all some time in the middle of next week.
Up Wexford.