GAELIC GAMES/ALL-IRELAND UNDER-21 HC SEMI-FINAL/Galway 0-22 Limerick 2-14:IN A year when Galway's senior hurlers flattered to deceive once again, the county's minor and under-21 teams remain hugely competitive in the underage ranks.
Next month, the Tribesmen will contest All-Ireland minor and under-21 hurling finals against Dublin, with both counties making good strides towards a genuine tilt at Kilkenny and Tipperary in the senior ranks in the years to come.
Crowned Munster champions following an epic extra-time victory against Cork, the Shannonsiders will have 11 of Saturday’s starting team available to them again next year.
Whether former playing star Leo O’Connor, who has served three seasons at the helm, will be around to guide them again is a moot point at this stage.
But he believes the omens are good for this team, despite a heartbreaking All-Ireland semi-final defeat in the first championship clash between Galway and Limerick since the 2002 final.
O’Connor said: “This is my third year, we’ve worked hard to get here and it takes a hell of a lot of work.
“It’s a decision for another day. We’ll let the county board have a think about it first and see what they come up with.”
“It’s a long road back to where we are but in 1986, we won the Munster final against Clare after extra-time and Galway beat us in the All-Ireland semi-final We came back and won the All-Ireland in 1987 – I’m not saying we’re going to do it next year but we’ll certainly be trying.”
Limerick were fancied by many against a Galway team that, in time-honoured tradition, came into the championship as as unknown quantity.
Manager Anthony Cunningham has previously expressed a desire for the county’s underage teams to join the seniors in the Leinster championship.
It certainly seems inequitable that Limerick had two games against Clare and Cork under their belts while Galway were left twiddling their thumbs until August, and coming in cold.
But the Westerners coped well and claimed a merited victory in front of 8,125 spectators at Semple Stadium which went some way towards banishing the memories of a 25-point mauling against Tipperary in the 2010 decider at the same venue.
Galway, who led by 0-14 to 1-9 at half-time, had a seven-point haul from play supplied by Niall Burke, man of the match in the 2009 All-Ireland minor final.
Tadhg Haran also chipped in with seven points, including five frees, while captain Barry Daly’s tireless display yielded three points from play.
Galway’s keen sense of redemption was tempered by the realism of manager Anthony Cunningham at the final whistle, who warned of the danger posed by Dublin in both minor and under-21 finals.
He said: “We’re up against a Dublin set-up on the crest of a wave. They will be two extremely hard matches but the bottom line is that we have to improve. And we hope they come on after a match like that – it’s as good as a month’s training.”
Galway, reduced to 14 men when wing back Rory Foy received a second yellow card with five minutes remaining, were rocked by Limerick goals in either half but dug in to claim a gritty win.
Teenager Shane Dowling managed 2-5 for Limerick, including a second half penalty goal which put his side a point up, but the Shannonsiders could not build on that.
And approaching half-time, they lost captain Kevin Downes through injury after the senior star had struggled with a broken bone in his hand coming into the game.
GALWAY: J Ryan; D Connolly, N Donoghue, G O’Halloran; R Foy, P Gordon, J Grealish; J Coen, D Burke (0-1); C Cooney (0-1), N Burke (0-7), T Haran (0-7, five frees); J Regan (0-1), B Daly (0-3), D Glennon (0-1). Subs: B Burke (0-1) for Cooney (46 mins), D Fox for Haran (58 mins).
LIMERICK: A Murphy; A Dempsey, P Begley, S O’Reilly; J O’Brien, C Hayes, T O’Callaghan; C Allis (0-1), S O’Brien (0-1); S Dowling (2-5, 1-0 pen, five frees), N Kennedy (0-1), D Hannon (0-4, one sideline); G Mulcahy (0-1), K Downes, M Ryan. Subs: M Carmody for Downes (29 mins), K O’Donnell (0-1) for Kennedy (49 mins), W Griffin for Ryan, B O’Connell for Dempsey (both 50 mins).
Referee: A Stapleton (Laois).
