Galway 2-26

Cork 1-18

JOHNNY CAROLAN REPORTS

A COUPLE of notable sequences were extended at Croke Park last Sunday.

Cork’s wait for a senior hurling All-Ireland will go into a 22nd year, while the tally of consecutive defeats to Galway now stands at six – the Rebels have never lost to the same opponent on more than seven consecutive occasions.

However, what will arguably worry all stakeholders in the blood and bandage is the sequence that stands at two, even though it’s the minimum any run can be – a single second-half collapse at Croke Park could be seen as an accident, but now it’s a pattern.

Leading by a point at the break, Cork suffered a collapse similar to last year’s All-Ireland final as Galway advanced to a meeting with Limerick by outscoring the Rebels by 1-14 to 0-5 in the second period.

Little wonder that Cork manager Ben O’Connor admitted afterwards that such an outcome was not high on his list of expectations.

‘Not really, it was very disappointing,’ he said, ‘I didn't see it coming, to tell you the truth.

‘It is what it is, they were better than us on the day, out-worked us, out-hurled us, no excuses.

‘I thought the few points before half-time killed us, we had a nice cushion at that stage, then they got the first two or three as well, straightaway after half-time.

‘It was an area that cost us in the Munster final, it cost us as well today, but look, once they got on top of us, we had no comeback from it. The sending-off made it near-impossible.

‘Look, that's not a true reflection of our lads. For everyone watching, people are saying, “Cork again,” but we’re better than that, we just didn't do it today.’

Cork's Shane Barrett gets in his strike despite the attention from Galway's Ronan Glennon. (Photo: George Hatchell)

The points before half-time that O’Connor referenced were a Galway surge that saw them score five of the last six coming up to the interval. Up to that, the game had been split into two distinct periods of dominance – Galway moving 1-4 to 0-2 in front before Cork responded as they built a lead of 1-12 to 1-7.

Galway closing to within a point suggested a close second half, but instead it was actually the part of a third segment that continued – they had ten of the first 11 points after the restart, giving them a 0-15 to 0-2 scoreline between the 30th and 53rd minutes.

Points from Brian Hayes and Shane Barrett (free) left Cork within a manageable deficit of six, but too often they went for goals with undue urgency when the lead could have been eroded by points.

Galway, for whom Jason Rabbitte was outstanding throughout as a targetman, never looked like wavering – goalkeeper Darach Fahy denied Barrett with Cork’s only real chance of a green flag – and by the end there were 11 points between the sides.

It will be a pity that Brian Hayes’ six first-half points end up largely forgotten, the attacker Cork’s main man in the opening half as they responded to Galway’s good start which had been under-pinned by Darragh Neary’s goal, set up by Rabbitte.

Alan Walsh put Cork in front with a fine finish to the net following an Eoin Downey sideline cut and then there were points for Barrett and Darragh Fitzgibbon, along with Alan Connolly frees, as the Rebel ship looked to have been righted.

Instead, Galway were merely reloading, with wing-back Ronan Glennon landing a long-range score as their counter-attacking system became stronger, limiting Cork’s prowess.

Tom Monaghan and Cathal Mannion were also to the fore as they made their aerial dominance count in the third quarter and the outcome was, unfortunately, decided well before the end.

Scorers

Galway: Conor Cooney 1-1; Tom Monaghan 0-4; Aaron Niland (3f), Cathal Mannion (1f), Ronan Glennon, Jason Rabbitte, Conor Whelan 0-3 each; Darragh Neary 1-0; Gavin Lee 0-2; Pádraic Mannion, Darren Morrissey, Tiernan Killeen, John Fleming 0-1 each.

Cork: Brian Hayes 0-7; Alan Connolly 0-4 (3f); Shane Barrett 0-3 (1f); Alan Walsh 1-0; Darragh Fitzgibbon 0-2; Barry Walsh (1f), William Buckley 0-1 each.

Galway: Darach Fahy; Daithí Burke, Cillian Trayers, Joshua Ryan; Pádraig Mannion, Darren Morrissey, Ronan Glennon; Tiernan Killeen, Gavin Lee; Darragh Neary, Cathal Mannion, Tom Monaghan; Conor Whelan, Jason Rabbitte, Aaron Niland.

Subs: Cian Daniels for Pádraic Mannion (15-16), Conor Cooney for Niland (47), John Fleming for Killeen (62), Brian Concannon for Lee (66), Seán Linnane for Neary (70+1).

Cork: Patrick Collins; Niall O’Leary, Darragh Cahalane, Seán O’Donoghue; Eoin Downey, Robert Downey, Mark Coleman; Tim O’Mahony, Tommy O’Connell; Darragh Fitzgibbon, Shane Barrett, Diarmuid Healy; Alan Connolly, Alan Walsh, Brian Hayes.

Subs: Cormac O’Brien for Cahalane (half-time), Robbie O’Flynn for O’Connell (48), William Buckley for Connolly (51), Barry Walsh for Alan Walsh (52), Ger Millerick for Eoin Downey (61, injured).

Referee: Johnny Murphy (Limerick).