Galway show no signs of slowing down

Canning stars as Tribe brush off Wexford challenge

IN the 56th minute of this utterly one-sided game, Joe Canning floated his 10th point over the bar and celebrated with a fist-pump. It was a lovely score from the Portumna magician, making his 50th Championship appearance, flicked over from out on the wing after he shrugged off Matthew O’Hanlon.

But it was all that went on in the 90 seconds prior to Canning’s touch of class that told us everything we need to know about this Galway side. And why it is getting increasingly difficult to see any team dethrone the All-Ireland champions this summer.

Paul Morris and Lee Chin had combined in an attempt to build a Wexford attack but as Chin went for a score, he was brilliantly blocked down by David Burke. Johnny Coen won a foot-race with Chin to the breaking ball and knocked it into Conor Cooney’s path, who gave it back to Burke.

The Galway captain’s long ball was cut out by Shaun Murphy but Galway didn’t let Wexford settle into any sort of pattern. Conor Whelan hooked Paudie Foley as he came out of defence and fed Jason Flynn, who eventually worked the ball to Canning for the score.

There is no better snapshot of this impressive Galway team, who strolled into the Leinster decider. For all the class they possess and their intimidating physical size, it is their ceaseless appetite for hard work that is the most frightening thing about the Tribesmen.

The game had been long over as a contest by that point — it can be argued that any semblance of a contest ended in the second minute when Whelan found the net. But despite being comfortable on the scoreboard, they remained relentless. They chased every lost cause and their workrate never dropped.

Wexford may have been chasing the game from Whelan’s goal but they were completely out-worked by their opponents. By the 42nd minute, Galway had already made 14 more hooks, blocks and tackles than their overwhelmed and outclassed opponents. That gap only increased by the end.

It was a disappointing evening for Wexford and their passionate support. They never got to the pitch of the game and Davy Fitzgerald lamented their punishing schedule afterwards.

‘I took off three of four and I could have taken off another four or five,’ Fitzgerald said. ‘It was just one of those days. It’s frustrating — they are down, disappointed and upset.

‘I felt the same but what do you do? I like this new system but we will have to look at it. I think if teams play two games and then get a break. I don’t think you should get more than two together.’

Wexford were dominated so much in the physical exchanges that it looked like men against boys. However, Fitzgerald defended his team’s strength and claimed that if they met Galway on a more even playing field that things might be different.

‘I think we’d match anyone physically if we were fresh,’ Fitzgerald countered. ‘I think we could match them. We won’t be a hundred miles away. I will answer that question if we play them again and we had three or four weeks of a break. And they do, too. We will see what the story is, then.’

There is still a chance of these two teams meeting in the provincial final at the start of July, although Fitzgerald was swift to write off his team’s prospects against Kilkenny next weekend as Brian Cody’s side had the week off. But there must be a response from Wexford and it will be a test of their manager to find one in only a few days.

‘As long as we are hurling in July, that is all I want to do,’ Fitzgerald said. ‘It will be a different Championship to the one we are in now, week on week. It will be back to normal — a game and then three or four weeks of a breather.’

Galway’s summer path is already plotted out. They can rest their stars for next week’s tussle with Dublin in Salthill and keep them fresh for the Leinster final. Canning, who scored 12 points, hobbled from the action near the end, but it was only for a bang on his knee from a hurl rather than any sort of ligament damage.

The thing about Galway is that they can win games any which way. In Wexford Park, the towering Johnny Glynn was used at full-forward which allowed James Skehill to by-pass the sweeper with his puck-outs, simply raining long ball on top of Glynn. Conor Cooney, alongside him in the fullforward line, profited most from this tactic, scoring four excellent points in a first-half where he tortured Simon Donohoe.

Micheál Donoghue pointed out after the game that his players are now playing with the confidence of champions. This was typified by Aidan Harte’s burst from defence in the 40th minute, when he flicked the ball over Jack O’Connor and continued with his run.

‘The players took a lot of confidence from our success last year and only now are we seeing that come across in our play,’ the Galway boss said. ‘But we are under no illusions. They are going to be tougher tests ahead. Wexford will still have a massive say in this Championship as will Kilkenny and the Munster teams.’

The only downside to Galway was that their discipline let them down at times — their entire fullback line was booked in the firsthalf and Adrian Tuohey eventually left the fray after picking up a second yellow card just before the end. Their style of defending means they live on the edge.

‘In the last week, a lot has been made about our physicality. We are really fortunate with this group, we have huge men who are athletic but they are all able to hurl,’ Donoghue said.

Right now, nobody is hurling as well as this Galway side. Or working as hard. It is hard to see them being stopped.

GALWAY: J Skehill; A Tuohey, Daithí Burke, J Hanbury (S Linnane 67); P Mannion, G McInerney, A Harte; J Coen, David Burke; C Mannion (B Concannon 65), J Canning (D Glennon 69), J Cooney(N Burke 57); C Whelan, J Glynn(J Flynn 54), C Cooney

Scorers: J Canning 0-12 (8f, 2s/l cut); C Whelan 1-2; C Cooney 0-4; David Burke 0-2; J Cooney, N Burke, J Flynn (1f) 0-1/

Wides: (3) 8 Yellow cards: J Hanbury (3), Daithí Burke (16), A Tuohey (35+70), C Cooney (48)

WEXFORD: M Fanning; D Reck, L Ryan, S Donohoe (C Firman h-t); S Murphy; P Foley, M O’Hanlon, D O’Keeffe; K Foley (H Kehoe 51), A Nolan; L Chin, J O’Connor (L Og McGovern 47), P Morris, R O’Connor, C McDonald

Scorers: R O’Connor 0-12 (10f); P Morris, A Nolan 0-2; P Foley 0-1.

Wides: (6) 12 Yellow cards: M O’Hanlon (11), P Morris (35), L Ryan (57) Referee: J Murphy (Limerick)