Galway punish Cork inaccuracy as Shefflin’s men hang on by slimmest of margins

Galway: 2-19 Cork: 1-21

This strange new lifeline of hurling is again laid bare. Galway, flattened by Kilkenny a fortnight ago, play all the numbers and the odds and rise again to meet All-Ireland champions Limerick on Sunday week.

Cork, last year’s beaten All-Ireland finalists and this year’s beaten league finalists, get seven months to mull over leaving it all behind in Semple Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

How Galway conspired to win this game is directly related to how Cork conspired to lose it, starting with the fact they let slip three goal chances and 12 point chances in in the first half alone. The Galway defence was excellent, including goalkeeper Éanna Murphy, and with 11 different scorers in the end there was nothing undeserving about the victory.

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Still the nature of Cork’s loss will sting for a long while. That squandering of chances is costly at this stage of the championship and, even if they rallied and raged in the second half, the regrets will linger for a long while too.

The first goal came after 16 seconds and straightaway it seemed Galway had the wind to their sails. Except there wasn’t much wind at all, the stillness around Semple Stadium eventually disturbed by a game which brewed up a storm on its own.

From the throw-in, the ball spilled out to Tom Monaghan, was worked back another line to corner back Jack Grealish, who sent a visibly tentative shot from 70 metres out in towards the Cork goal, which appeared well within the grasp of Patrick Collins.

Instead, Collins somehow taking his eye off the ball, it eluded his grasp and dropped into the net. That it finished with Cork scoring the last three points from play as time spilled into the five minutes of added time is some evidence of how valuable that goal proved, Galway hanging on by well-bitten fingertips.

It wasn’t all Grealish did, his excellent marking along with Dáithí Burke and Darren Morrissey seeing Cork’s starting full-forward line of Tim O’Mahony, Alan Connolly and Lehane all held scoreless from play, all three replaced before the end.

Galway certainly got a lot more of their mojo working, Conor Whelan in brilliant acute-angle scoring form with his 1-2, Cathal Mannion also finishing with four major points from play and right around when Galway needed them most.

The second goal came on 17 minutes, Whelan winning a hard ball close to the left of the Cork goal and despite the close attention of Sean O’Donoghue, he ducked back inside and sent the ball from an acute angle into the bottom left corner.

Shooting 17 wides in all, 12 in the first half, was bad enough for Cork; they also hit the bottom of the post in injury time after a long-range free from Patrick Horgan which might have brought them even closer; Padraic Mannion then came to the rescue, forcing the ball off Shane Kingston and the wide rather than the chance for a 65-metre free.

Murphy made three big saves in the first half, the first from Robbie Flynn on six minutes just when Cork could have done with the lift, Murphy in the right spot again to save from Darragh Fitzgibbon on 23 minutes, again when Cork were in dire need of something.

Galway’s advantage at the break was five, 2-6 to 0-7, only that wouldn’t last for long. In one of Cork’s early attacks of the second half, Horgan picked up a loose ball and, following a delightful pick up, Shane Kingston, claimed possession and charged at the Galway goal with a trio of defenders for company before finishing with aplomb into the net.

Then on 55 minutes Cork got it back to a one-point game, 2-13 to 1-15, after hitting three points in succession, the best from Robbie O’Flynn, only for Galway to respond immediately through substitute Johnny Coen.

Joseph and Conor Cooney and the indefatigable David Burke too produced telling scores when Galway’s early momentum looked to be slipping fast, Monaghan adding one late from play too.

With none of Cork’s full forward line scoring from play, Mark Coleman first to take over the free-taking, Alan Cadogan was called in on 58 minutes and sparked more life into Cork. He scored three super points from play, including two of those last three for Cork which kept them in it, begging the question why he wasn’t on earlier.

Cork manager Kieran Kingston was equally animated in the end game, particularly in the 62nd minute when a heavy hit on Seamus Harnedy by Daithí Burke was somehow let go by referee Paud O’Dwyer.

The so-called battle for the middle third was every bit as tight as expected, Galway playing wider where possible, Padraic Mannion getting an increasing hold as the game progressed. For Cork Darragh Fitzgibbon did hit three points from play from midfield in the second half, Luke Meade adding another, all too late if not too little.

Considering Cork came in after winning three games on the bounce, confidence flowing, their first-half tally of just of seven points will duly haunt them. Galway go on to meet Limerick, wind back in their sails.

GALWAY: E Murphy; J Grealish (1-0), Daithí Burke (capt), D Morrissey; P Mannion, G McInerney, F Burke; David Burke (0-2), R Glennon (0-1); T Monaghan (0-1), C Cooney (0-4, three frees, one 65), J Cooney (0-2); C Fahy, C Whelan (1-2), C Mannion (0-4).

Subs: B Concannon (0-1) for Fahy (30 mins), J Flynn (0-1) for McInerney (34 mins, inj), J Coen (0-1) for Glennon (45 mins), E Niland for David Burke (69 mins), G Lee for Monaghan (75 mins).

CORK: P Collins; N O’Leary, R Downey, S O’Donoghue; D Cahalane (0-1), C Joyce, M Coleman (0-3, two frees, one 65); D Fitzgibbon (0-3), L Meade (0-1); R O’Flynn (0-3), S Harnedy, S Kingston (1-2, one free); T O’Mahony, A Connolly, C Lehane (0-1f).

Subs: P Horgan (0-4, two frees, one 65) for Lehane (half-time), J O’Connor for Connolly (47 mins), G Mellerick for Downey (51 mins), A Cadogan (0-3) for O’Mahony (58 mins), T O’Connell for Harnedy (67 mins).

Referee: Paud O’Dwyer (Carlow)