HURLING SUMMER HARD TO BEAT
Galway supremo praises ‘unbelievable character’ in wake of Clare onslaught
HURLING is truly the gift that just keeps on giving in this extraordinary summer of sport.
Henry Shefflin’s tweet that he will tell his children ‘to remember this summer not for the weather but for the hurling’ pretty much summed up the nation’s reaction to 180-plus minutes of sensational action in the All-Ireland SHC semi-finals.
Nearly 130,000 crammed into Croker to witness magnificent skills and effort and the sort of heroism shown by Clare’s Aron Shanagher who provided his side’s vital goal less than eight months after suffering a torn cruciate ligament.
Both games also provided incredible rates of scoring, with each of the four semi-finalists registering more than 30 across more than three hours of breathless action.
And yet when the dust settled, two moments of genius – from Peter Duggan and Nickie Quaid – still managed to stand out. Some hurling fans are accused of hyperbole and sporting snobbery but, after the last 48 hours, it’s hard to argue against them.
THE easy option would have been to throw in the towel – as they have been criticised of doing in the past – given the personnel that were missing in the closing stages, but this is a different Galway crop and they refused to wilt in the face of a rabid Clare side.
Gearóid McInerney, Joe Canning, Conor Whelan and Adrian Tuohy watched on as the Tribesmen’s grip on Liam MacCarthy slipped in a barn burner with the Banner.
There was all sorts of condemnation tossed in their direction when Micheál Donoghue replaced the ousted Anthony Cunningham in the winter of 2015 having reached an All-Ireland final but they have transformed mentally in the past three years.
Donoghue hailed the “unbelievable character” and felt the experience of ending their All-Ireland famine last September served them well down the stretch when a livelier Clare side looked to have their number.
Amazingly, Aron Shanagher’s goal 30 seconds into the second period of extra-time sent Gerry O’Connor and Donal Moloney’s men into the lead for the first time in an epic semi-final clash, but it was Clare who were forced to get the last-second leveller.
DEMANDING
Jason McCarthy (right) produced his very own Dómhnall O’Donovan moment from the 2013 drawn All-Ireland final to leave Donoghue drained but “proud” on one of his “most demanding games on the sideline” as vital cogs in his side were dropping left, right and centre.
“Any time they got a setback they came back and got the scores when we needed them. We picked up a few knocks as well and the lads that came off the bench made massive contribution as well,” the Tribe boss said.
“When they got the goal, we went down straight away and Jayo (Jason Flynn) got the point, that just epitomised the character that’s in this team. These are a massive bunch and they’re really committed to the cause and want to be as successful as they can. They’ve massive experience and they’ll draw on it and they’ll be ready to go again.”
Inspirational full-back Dáithí Burke lined out despite a week of speculation surrounding an ankle injury picked up in training – “it wasn’t too bad, it was just a rolling stone that started to roll” in Donoghue’s words – but he didn’t look himself.
The three-time All-Star wore a support on his right ankle and came off second best against Clare powerhouse John Conlon, who fired over four points after a slow start, in one of many intriguing duels.
It looked like one-way traffic midway through the first half, however, as Galway raced into a nine-point lead, 1-7 to 0-1, and were it not for 12 early wides, they could have been out of sight before the break.
With Canning enjoying the freedom of the park and the recalled Conor Cooney capitalising on hesitancy from Clare skipper Pat O’Connor around the square to fire a goal, the Tribesmen were in total control.
Clare goalkeeper Donal Tuohy was having a meltdown from puck-outs in the first 15 minutes as a high Galway press forced turnovers from three restarts resulting in Galway points, but the game shifted totally with a change of tack from Clare.
While all the talk has been of a more direct approach under O’Connor and Moloney, Clare reverted back to tactics utilised under previous boss Davy Fitzgerald with the game slipping away from them as Colm Galvin reverted to a sweeping role and it bore great fruit.
They left McInerney free at centre-back for long stages and played the flanks to good effect with Peter Duggan growing into the game at half-forward while Tony Kelly gained a foothold at midfield as they won the remainder of the half 0-8 to 0-3 to trail by four at the break, 1-10 to 0-9.
Clare emerged after a monstrous half-time team talk and were within one point in the 43rd minute before Galway responded through captain David Burke, who was beginning to dominate Cathal Malone, to help them into a five-point lead.
There was no quit in Clare, however, and buoyed by the energy of David Fitzgerald when sprung off the bench for Malone, they drew level in the 53rd minute (1-16 to 0-19) as Galway began to tread water.
With Joseph Cooney unable to scale the heights of 12 months ago and called ashore for the fifth time in six championship games this year, they also lost McInerney, who had switched to wing-back to keep tabs on Duggan.
It was tit for tat in an exhilarating final quarter but Galway were a tad predictable with their style of no-look hurling – delivering long ball into Johnny Glynn and Co without a glance – not having the desired effect. Donoghue admitted that they would “have to have a look at that” as well as nullifying Galvin’s influence for the replay as Duggan drew level in the 64th minute with a mesmerising point.
Galway again stretched the lead to three with time ticking away before a nerveless Kelly sideline cut and further points from Conlon and a Duggan free forced extra-time as Johnny Coen spurned a glorious late chance to win it for the holders (1-23 to 0-26).
Canning was Galway’s only scorer in the first half of extra-time as Clare rued a string of wides but Shanagher’s goal after a brilliant fetch over John
Hanbury grasped the initiative and they looked to have Galway’s number in several key sectors (1-27 to 1-26).
Shane O’Donnell was re-introduced and sent Clare two ahead but Flynn nearly had a goal at the other end after trojan work from Glynn and Coen sent them ahead with 92 minutes played after an heroic catch from Dáithí Burke.
The fat lady hadn’t yet sang, however, and McCarthy levelled with the last puck of the game as the 2018 hurling championship served up one of its finest dishes yet. Thankfully, there’s another course to come.
SCORERS – Galway: J Canning 0-12 (6f, 2sl); C Mannion 0-4; C Cooney 1-1; C Whelan, J Flynn (1f), David Burke 0-3 each; J Coen 0-2, J Glynn, N Burke 0-1 each. Clare: P Duggan 0-14 (11f); J Conlon 0-4; A Shanagher 1-0; T Kelly (1 sl), S O’Donnell 0-3 each, I Galvin 0-2; D Reidy, C Galvin, D Fitzgerald, J McCarthy 0-1 each.
GALWAY– J Skehill 6; A Tuohy 7, Dáithí Burke 7, J Hanbury 6; P Mannion 7, G McInerney 6, A Harte 6; J Coen 7, David Burke 7; J Cooney 5, J Canning 8, C Mannion 8; C Whelan 8, C Cooney 6, J Glynn 8. Subs: N Burke 7 for J Cooney (52), P Killeen 6 for McInerney inj (54), J Flynn 6 for C Cooney (62), S Loftus 6 for Tuohy (start of extra-time), J Cooney for David Burke (80+2 ET), C Cooney for Whelan inj (start of second half ET), D Glennon 7 for Canning inj (82 ET).
CLARE – D Tuohy 7; P O’Connor 6, D McInerney 6, J Browne 7; S Morey 7, C Cleary 6, J Shanahan 6; C Galvin 8, C Malone 5; P Duggan 9, T Kelly 7, D Reidy 6; P Collins 5, J Conlon 8, S O’Donnell 7.
Subs: D Fitzgerald 7 for Malone (48), C McGrath 5 for Collins (58), I Galvin 7 for Reidy (61), A Shanagher 7 for O’Donnell (67), O’Donnell for McGrath (80+3 ET), J McCarthy 7 for Shanahan (start of second half ET).
REF – J Owens (Wexford)