Galway dreaming with luck on their side
Banner’s late surge is not enough to rein in the Tribesmen as Donoghue’s side close in on double
AND so, for the second occasion this summer, Clare’s Championship ambitions came down to the width of a post at Semple Stadium.
Eight weeks ago, at the town end of the Thurles ground, Tipperary’s Jake Morris raced through on goal in the Munster group game and fired a shot.
Rather than make the game safe for Tipp and keep them in the Championship, the ball bounced off the post and Clare worked the rebound up the field for Ian Galvin to rattle the Tipp net.
In a madcap finish, the Banner completed a heart-stopping comeback. It was the second Sunday in June and Tipp were gone. The reverberations of that result were still being felt this week as Michael Ryan stepped down.
At the same venue yesterday, in a slow-burning All-Ireland semifinal replay that caught fire in the second half, Clare came storming back from nine down against the All-Ireland champions to give themselves a fighting chance.
Shane O’Donnell scored a crack Tony ing individual goal, Peter Duggan blazed the net 10 minutes later, meaning that, with just two minutes of normal time left, the outcome hung in the balance.
Aron Shanagher took a pass from O’Donnell to cut in on goal and shortened his stick from closerange only to see his shot hit the advancing form of goalkeeper James Skehill. When the rebound bounced back into his path he rounded the keeper, and with the angle tightening, scooped the ball goalwards. A collective gasp went up from the crowd of over 44,000 as it hit the post and came back out.
Galway scrambled it to safety, still clinging to the narrowest of leads, 1-15 to 2-11.
There was time yet for another nerve-jangling finish in keeping with a storybook summer of hurling. Joe Canning sent in a sideline cut from 30 metres out before John Conlon pounced for his first point of the contest.
And then another critical moment in the 71st minute. Clare’s scoring machine for the 2018 season, Duggan, didn’t connect cleanly with a 50-metre free to level the game, his effort hitting an upright Galway hurley.
Jonathan Glynn then showcased his skyscraping ability by fetching a high ball and setting up Niall Burke for a score only for Duggan to leave just one in it from a free as the clock counted down the five minutes of injury-time.
Kelly launched one last unsympathetic ball in Shanagher’s direction only for Daithí Burke to shepherd it out wide.
Galway’s dream of an All-Ireland double in keeping with the history boys of 1987-88 is alive.
An error-ridden opening half threatened to bring this muchtouted game from the gods back down to earth, Galway again racing clear in keeping with the pattern of the drawn game.
Micheál Donoghue’s dummy team fooled nobody. Gearóid McInerney — despite being named on Friday night at centreback — didn’t start due to a calf injury and it was Hurler of the Year contender Pádraic Mannion deputising at centre-back with wing-forward Joseph Cooney dropping to wing-back to match up physically and height-wise with in-form Clare attacker, Duggan.
Canning was dropping deep from wing-forward and took two great points on the loop. He added a free and then took another pass from Aidan Harte who robbed David Reidy to generate a huge roar by splitting the posts from the New Stand sideline.
At that point, just seven minutes in, Galway had again torched their way into an early lead, 0-4 to no score. It took Clare 10 minutes to register a point, Duggan stemming the bleeding with a free from his own 65-metre line.
Conor Whelan burned David Fitzgerald and then Duggan for pace before Clare’s deadball specialist added a second free after David Reidy was fouled.
Faster to the breaks and more aggressive in the tackle, Galway had surged 0-9 to 0-2 ahead after 19 minutes.
Mannion was sweeping to good effect with Podge Collins trying to mark him rather than Adrian Tuohey. With Kelly drifting from centre-forward to allow Colm Galvin sweep, Clare were overwhelmed in the half-forward line meaning talisman John Conlon was starved of possession. Twenty minutes had elapsed when Kelly hit Clare’s first point from play.
A minute later, Glynn flicked a Cooney long ball down to himself — taking the ball at its high point — turned on the edge of the square and swung at the ball onehanded under pressure to the net. At 1-9 to 0-3, Clare were nine points down.
After one passage of play where referee Fergal Horgan looked to have swallowed his whistle, one messy turnover following another, it was hard to see the second half turning into a classic.
But O’Donnell’s thrilling goal quickly ate into a half-time deficit of six points.
David McInerney was hurling up a storm at the back for Clare and played a great ball in front of Conlon. It broke to O’Donnell who was fouled by Daithí Burke only for Horgan to allow an important advantage. The Clare forward drove for goal, evaded the covering tackle of David Burke, and touched the ball off his hurl into the net.
Then Duggan shrugged off a tackle to break clear and rattle the net with a shot that was close to Skehill’s body, setting pulses racing for that most dramatic of denouements.
If Shanagher’s flick had gone one inch the other side of the post, who knows how it would have finished? Clare had all the momentum at that stage and going into the lead for the first time would have been a massive confidence-booster.
Instead, it’s Galway who go through to the final chasing the back-to-back titles that would confirm greatness.