Galway and Canning simmering nicely ahead of summer

Galway 4-21 Dublin 0-19WE SHALL get to the magnificence of Joe Canning, but before that the wreckage he left behind him must be surveyed. The defending league champions just got relegated.

There are plenty of mitigating factors – injuries, suspensions, the pitch, wides – but when analysed coldly Dublin lacked the intensity and accuracy required to remain as a Division 1A county.

As Anthony Daly strided off the bumpy O’Moore Park turf a young boy blocked his path.

“Give us your hat,” he demanded. Daly discarded the beanie without a second thought. The boy could barely believe his luck, legging it in case the genial Clare man changed his mind.

The Dublin manager may have just wanted a quick escape. That said, he sounded like a clear thinker, not overly concerned by the drubbing his team had just taken. And it was an awful battering in the end.

“You look at the scoreline and say we were hammered but matches can go that way. It was a bit of a lottery with all the sand. You walked across it yourself now, we coughed up a couple of balls and were punished for them.

“Their backs were that bit stickier and tougher in the conditions. Fair play to Galway, they won it deservedly. No arguments.”

The Dublin defence was harried into errors by Anthony Cunningham’s industrious Tribesmen. That was the difference; Galway were nothing like the side that meekly folded against Waterford in Thurles last summer.

A new aspect of their personality was revealed. In contrast, Dublin were sloppy when attempting to clear possession up field but Galway forwards made them look so. They hounded them all day long. No greater compliment can be paid to a sportsman than praise for his work ethic.

But Daly was right, games can get away from you, especially when a fit Joe Canning is on the field. And the Dublin forwards couldn’t win enough clean possession to make a scrap of it down the straight. The suspended Ryan O’Dwyer’s value under dropping ball cannot be overstated.

But Canning, having recovered from a shoulder problem and the dip in excellence that was 2011, has returned with renewed vigour. His second goal was, well, it was a thing of beauty. Peter Kelly was dragged away from the Portumna man by a skidding ball down the right flank, but didn’t adhere to the golden rule; when you leave your man you better get a hold of the sliotar. Damien Hayes shipped it inside to Canning, 25 odd yards out, with a blue shirt in his face. He took a step to his right before bulleting a shot into the top right corner.

Everyone marvelled at the brilliance of the 23 year old. Moments later Davy Glennon pounced after some uncertainty from Dublin goalkeeper Gary Maguire to make it 3-16 to 0-16. Despite 15 minutes remaining, large swaths of the crowd went in search of their cars.

Canning’s earlier goal from a 21 metre free, dubiously awarded by Cork referee John Sexton for killing ball around the square, was actually more significant as it separated the sides, negating Dublin’s energetic opening salvo. Galway led 1-11 to 0-13 at the turn, undoing the impressive scoring return of Martin Quilty and the unerring Paul Ryan.

Besides Canning, there were plenty of encouraging performances in maroon. The Burke’s, David and Niall, gathered 1-7 from play between them, while more is to come from Hayes and Iarla Tannian. They all seem to be nicely simmering.

“Ah yeah, the guys wanted to play well going into the championship,” said Cunningham.

“We did well in the league, albeit a poor performance against Kilkenny, everything else was very close.

“We’ve secured our position in Division One, it’s no more than that. It’s a very difficult league. They’ll learn from it and drive on.”

An awful blow for Dublin hurling then? Daly refused to buy into that in the month of April. “Ah, no. Not too bad . . . We didn’t take our opportunities.

“You could argue it exposed a few frailties. Even the goal was a good finish by Joe Canning but we should’ve had it cleared. When the third goal came the match was over.

“We should’ve been ahead at half-time. We didn’t punish them. A handy enough old penalty – we’re not complaining, John Sexton had a great game, I thought – but from the 21 Canning doesn’t even strike it that well but it goes in. Instead of being a couple up you find yourself one down.”

Besides ODwyer, who has another game ban to serve, the absentees should all return for the Leinster championship opener against Carlow or Laois on June 2nd in Tullamore. Tomás Brady, Stephen Hiney and Conal Keaney are inching back from knee damage, while Alan McCrabbe is also cooling off in suspension limbo. “Tomás now has two matches played, Stephen played on Thursday night and hopefully Conal will play next Saturday night in the championship for Boden. He had a slight set back with his ankle. Not the knee, the knee is good.”

Anyway, the damage has been done. The defending league champions have fallen off their perch while Galway, and Joe, are showing signs that they may erupt when summer hurling comes.

GALWAY: F Flannery; K Hynes, D Collins, J Coen (0-1); N Donoghue, F Moore, T Og Regan; D Burke (1-3), I Tannian (0-1); A Smith, N Burke (0-4), C Donnellan (0-2); D Hayes (0-1), J Canning (2-7, 1-6 frees), D Glennon (1-2). Substitutes: J Glynn for A Smith (23 mins), J Regan for C Donnellan (60 mins), B Flaherty for N Donoghue (68 mins), C Cooney for N Burke (69 mins).

DUBLIN: G Maguire; N Corcoran, P Kelly, P Schutte; M Carton, J Boland (0-1), S Durkin; J McCaffrey (0-1), M Quilty (0-3); C McCormack (0-2), D Treacy (0-1), L Rushe; D Sutcliffe, Ross OCarroll, P Ryan (0-11, eight frees). Substitutes: S Lambert for D Treacy (46 mins), N McMorrow for R OCarroll (50 mins), E Dillon for M Quilty (59 mins), R Treanor for P Schutte (60 mins), D Plunkett for P Ryan (64 mins).

Referee: J Sexton (Cork).