PÁDRAIC MANNION has played down suggestions that there’s no love lost between the hurlers of Galway and Dublin.
Their rivalry has ratcheted up hugely in the past decade, a timeline that coincides with Dublin’s emergence as a serious force.
They even famously engaged in a ‘Boston brawl’ back in November, 2015, when their ‘Super 11s’ exhibition match at Fenway Park produced some unexpected scenes of chaos.
“Yeah, I was playing that time,” confirmed Mannion (right), who established himself on the Galway team that year. “It was just one of
Frank Roche
those games where everyone was kind of playing on the edge, and it didn’t take much to send it over the edge. But look it, even that night, we were out with the Dublin lads afterwards and it was all forgotten about.”Division 1B battle resumes in Pearse Stadium this Sunday, with Mattie Kenny’s Dubs bringing a 100pc record to Salthill whereas Galway are hoping to erase the memory of their shock stalemate with Carlow.“The last few years we’ve played them most years in the Leinster Championship, so there’s obviously a bit of rivalry built up there and you kind of get a small bit familiar with the team,” acknowledged Mannion, who won his second straight All-Star plus a Hurler of the Year nomination in 2018. “But if you’re going out worrying about other teams, obviously you’re not going to perform to the best of yourself. I’m sure Dublin are the same.” Mannion also cited a recent history of one-point wins over Dublin. “Was it last year that Dublin were ahead after 70 minutes in three of their (Leinster) games and didn’t come away with a win in any of them? So obviously they’re not far off the top teams.”