ALL-IRELAND
FINAL DIARY
TRIBE HAVE EXPERIENCE
FOR a good chunk of Galway’s squad Sunday’s decider will be their fifth All-Ireland SHC final (including replays), and they will be up against a rookie Limerick side.
James Skehill, Johnny Coen, Niall Burke, David Burke and Joe Canning were present six years ago for the draw and replay with Kilkenny, and Conor and Joseph Cooney, Jonathan Glynn and Davy Glennon came off the bench, while 10 of the side which fell to the Cats in 2015 should feature.
Fourteen of last year’s final team look set to start, but only Limerick substitute Seamus Hickey has All-Ireland final experience from 2007.
The experience edge is certainly with the champions.
GOOGLE HELPS VAN GRAAN TO GRASP IT
THERE will be many interested spectators for the hurling showpiece, none more so than Munster rugby head coach Johann van Graan.
Given their Limerick base, the South African was an interested viewer at their semi-final win over Cork – “the first game that I actually saw live” – and has been enthralled by it ever since.
Having talked to winger Darren Sweetnam, a former Cork hurler, about it, he hopes to be in GAA HQ on Sunday.
“When the semi-final ended in a draw, all of a sudden my wife and I started googling it, you know, what’s going to happen now? And when is it a point and when do you get more points? It was incredible and after that I started talking to people about hurling. Hopefully I’ll get to the final but I don’t have a ticket yet,” he said.
Canning out to get one over on ‘second county’
AFTER spending his college years there and subsequently opening up a restaurant in the city, it’s fair to say Galway sharpshooter Joe Canning has a special affinity with Limerick, but that will be left at the door this weekend.
Canning graduated from Limerick IT with a business degree having led them to just their second Fitzgibbon Cup title in 2007 while he was later part of their backroom team.
The Portumna maestro also opened a Camile Thai restaurant in Parkway Retail Park in recent years which sees him spend much of his time working on Shannonside, but any work or college allegiances will be parked for Sunday’s final.
Message of the day
“We are in a state of emergency here, we need two tickets for hospitality.”
— A desperate but hilarious plea made by Joe Hayes and Pat Fox through Facebook for All-Ireland final tickets from their former Tipperary team-mate Nicky English.
Number of the day
45 MUCH is made of English soccer’s years of hurt but Limerick bid to end nearly half a century in hurling’s wilderness.