Galway have the quality

ALL-IRELAND UNDER-21 HC SEMI-FINALS/Clare v Galway:CLARE ARE surprise contenders at this stage of the championship after their first Munster title at the grade eclipsing the successful Tipperary minor cohort of a couple of years ago by defeating Waterford in the final.

Clonlara’s Darach Honan was the scoring star with 2-2, including the clinching goal but it was a strong team performance by John Minogue’s side, who also thrashed Limerick in the provincial campaign.

They were controversially denied in last year’s Munster final, again by Tipperary. Today they face a Galway team as usual making their first appearance of the season.

However, Galway are well stocked with survivors from the team that lost to eventual champions Kilkenny last year at the same stage, including Joe Canning who captains the side.

Lack of match practice will tell against them but they have the quality to progress.

GALWAY: J Skehill; S Quinn, C Daly, M Dolphin; D Connolly, B Regan, C Forde; D Burke, S Óg Linnane; K Keehan, A Harte, E Forde; A Dolan, J Canning, N Quinn.

CLARE: D Tuohy; J Gunning, E Glynn, C O’Doherty; D O’Donovan, N O’Connell, P O’Connor; E Barrett, C Chaplin; J Conlon, C O’Donovan, S Collins; D Honan, C Morey, C Ryan.

Referee: C McAllister (Cork)