Hardened Galway will prove to be cut above
JUST as Dublin’s dominance is threatening the spectator value and credibility of the Leinster football championship, its hurling counterpart is positively thriving.
At least from the Leinster Council’s point of view, the experiment of Galway breaking with traditional boundaries to take up residence has been a success story.
Cue this novel pairing that is set to out-sell the football final between Dublin and Kildare. Having a Munster man as a central character in the mix has added hugely to the hype.
Just like with Clare in 2013, Davy Fitzgerald has a bunch of players performing with energy, invention and, most of all, belief. The choreographed set-up and team play has, in turn, enabled players like Lee Chin to realise their potential. Expect Galway to have a better plan to shackle him than Kilkenny did.
While Wexford have been all about the team dynamic, there is no disputing how central Chin and Conor McDonald have been to how the team functions in an attacking sense.
And Galway have plenty of players with the mobility and athleticism – Daithí Burke, Aidan Harte and Padraic Mannion – to limit that threat.
Joe Canning has flourished now that others have taken up the scoring slack – already Conor Whelan and Cork’s Mark Coleman are frontrunners for the young player of the year award.
Buoyed by the confidence of already lifting league silverware and with the experience of previous Leinster finals to harden them, Galway have the threat in the inside line to win a second senior provincial title.
Verdict: Galway