Galway's wait for an 11th All-Ireland U20 hurling title will go into a 16th year next year, after the Tribesmen bowed out of this year's championship at the provincial semi-final stage last night in Tullamore. Fergal Healy's side were beaten by Dublin on a 2-19 to 0-17 scoreline, with two early goals from Callum Grahan in the opening five minutes doing the damage. Despite that, Galway only trailed by 2-8 to 0-11 at half-time, with wind advantage to come in the second half. It was the Dubs that started the second half better, however, scoring four of the first five points to open up a 2-12 to 0-12 lead, and they kept Galway at arm's length until the end. 13 second-half wides didn't help Galway's cause, as Aaron Niland struggled with his recent injury difficulties, with midfielders Rory Burke and Paddy Mac Cárthaigh contributing the bulk of the scores for the losers. After the game, Galway manager Fergal Healy was very disappointed:
"Yeah, very disappointing. We were beaten probably all over the field and second to the ball. The work rate wasn't good enough. They've given us, you know, everything since we started with them back in January. So it's just hard to know. Maybe it's just the fact that Dublin had two games since we played. Again, not using it as an excuse or anything, but again, that doesn't factor in the performance. They got two goals in the first five minutes, that gave them a good buffer early on in the game, didn't it? Again, very similar to last year, and albeit there was a strong wind in it. When you can build up a lead, it's probably easier to hold on to it than to be chasing it."
Fergal also told Niall Canavan that the structure of the Leinster U20 Hurling Championship needs to be addressed: "You're getting penalised for winning your two games, but how do you go out and not win your two games, or how do we go out and not try and beat Offaly that day? Hindsight is great in that regard, but at the same time, we didn't have a full squad. We thought we had managed it pretty well, and looking back, I don't know if there's a huge amount I would change. There's probably nothing, to be honest with you. The players have been unbelievable all year. They've given us everything, and it just didn't run for them today, unfortunately."
Listen to the full interview here:
Scorers – Galway: R Burke 0-7 (0-4f), P Mac Cárthaigh 0-2, B Callanan 0-2, J Rabbitte 0-2, C Killeen 0-2, C Lawless 0-1, A Niland 0-1f.
Dublin: C Graham 2-3, D O’Kelly 0-5f, O Gaffney 0-5 (0-2f, 0-1 pen), S Crosbie 0-3, C Ó Riain 0-1, B Kenny 0-1.
GALWAY: D Fahy; S Murphy, B O’Donovan, C Lawless; E O’Reilly, J Donnellan, G King; R Burke, P Mac Cárthaigh; G Maher, C Killeen, J Rabbitte; B Callanan, V Morgan, A Niland. Subs: D Counihan for Donnellan (37), R O’Donnell for Morgan (42), M Burke for Niland (47), T Blake for O’Donovan (52), D Campbell for Maher (56).
DUBLIN: D Joyce; D Lucey, C Groarke, B Lynch; J Sheppard, C Ó Riain, K Costello; F Murphy, J Kinnane; S Crosbie, B Kenny, D O’Kelly; O Gaffney, D Kilduff, C Graham. Subs: J Norris for Kilduff (28), N Fitzgerald for O’Kelly (53), S Bolger for Norris (58), J Kavanagh for Kinnane (60+2).
REF: Conor Daly (Kildare).
