Aerial blitz simply too much to take

Ioften wondered how it felt in London or Berlin during the World War when the sirens went to signal an impending bomb attack. Well, there was no prior warning but in the first-half on Saturday, and particularly early on, Galway subjected the Wexford defence to an aerial bombardment initiated in the main by goalie James Skehill, and our men never recovered.

With Mary Foley providing the hospitality, Des Cahill, Cyril Farrell, Larry O’Gorman and myself had settled into our vantage points anticipating a right old tussle between Davy’s men and the Tribe.

We were five down after four minutes though despite the incredible efforts from Mark Fanning to prevent the goal, and with the Galway defensive unit physically outstanding at the other end, this game was always going to be uncomfortable.

I said last week that they are champions for a reason, and with Conor Whelan, Conor Cooney and Joe Canning up front allied to a strong midfield, one wonders is there any team around capable of stealing Liam over the coming months.

In fairness, although beaten it was worth the admission money alone to see Joe Canning’s two sideline balls float gloriously between the posts.

Our players tried manfully (as we always do) but could never bridge the gap that appeared so early in the game.

Our season is far from over however, and won’t be defined by this one result. Once the initial disappointment is gone, we must focus on what is a semi-final next Saturday against the old enemy.

Whilst not as potent as Galway, Kilkenny will carry a serious threat which contains a few extra elements.

Brian Cody’s men will have the benefit of home advantage, an extra week’s rest, and the return possibly of Richie Hogan and Colin Fennelly to play a fuller role.

I will confess to being more confident about this game before last Saturday, but I’m hoping that Davy will again work his magic to lift the lads for what should be an incredible occasion.

There is a line of thought that going the more indirect quarter-final route would do us no harm, but everyone knows the only desired result in a Cats match is a win, and I have no doubt that we have the capabilities.

My late father, as many will know, was an incredibly dedicated hurling man and served in many roles, one being as umpire with his great friend, Pierie Butler.

If memory serves me right, he officiated at a District Junior final or maybe semi between Gorey and Tara Rocks.

Given the proximity of both clubs, people locally will testify that incorrect calls were not tolerated with great enthusiasm by aggrieved parties (anyone that hurled in the Gorey District will tell you what I mean).

The game was tight with a huge crowd present, and Gorey got a late penalty.

The ball was struck like a rocket and hit the crossbar so hard that it landed back on the ‘14 and was cleared by the grateful Rocks backs.

To my horror however, my father raised the green flag as he had mistakenly thought it came off the back stanchion.

The play continued and the flag stayed up and, as there were no stewards present, a small group of Buffers Alley people gathered to render assistance if necessary.

Thankfully Pierie ignored the call and signalled the flag to stay down and no goal was given, and I will always be grateful to the Alley legend as a result.

I relate this story to the Tipperary goal which wasn’t last weekend. My father was the most honest man you could meet, as I’m sure Alan Kelly’s umpire is.

But in hurling we will always have human error and at home, within 30 seconds, we knew almost definitely it didn’t cross the line. We need to use every bit of technology at our disposal to help our officials do a very difficult job.

A quick word from a designated person with a monitor upstairs into the referee’s ear piece would have sorted the issue.

We will never have perfection, but surely it’s worth looking at.