Languid Galway never at races

There must be days when football men like John O'Mahony walk the sideline, pleading, howling and cajoling their charges while silently wishing they were back home, feet up by the fire and half asleep in front of a matinee.

Nothing the Galway manager said or tried could alter the underlying apathy of the home team's performance in Tuam yesterday. It was just one of those days. Cork, the peerless Philip Clifford aside, didn't exactly sparkle either but at least they seemed to have shaken off the post All-Ireland gloom which devastated the first half of their league campaign.

As the teams warmed up before the game, the Athenry-Birr club hurling semi-final was broadcast on the public address. Palpable sporting drama crackled across the stadium and after it was cut, just before the throw-in before us, the crowd fell silent, as if collectively realising they were at the wrong venue. It is something of an indictment of the match as a spectacle that the general observation was that it at least finally got going . . . late in injury-time.

Padraig Joyce screwed a goal home on the stroke of half-time to keep Galway in contention, but the home team were wan and direction-less in their pursuit as the second half laboured on. They trailed 2-7 to 1-5 in injury time. But then Joyce, having an unhappy afternoon in open play, dispatched a stream of successful free kicks to help cut the deficit to three.

At last, they showed some real bite. Kevin Walsh, who dominated the high-altitude exchanges after coming in as a substitute, fired a long ball towards the square which Joe Bergin fisted past Kevin O'Dwyer. He wheeled away in celebration, the home crowd fully enthused for the first time all day. Referee Brian Crowe then killed the romance by - correctly - calling a "square ball". Lorcan Colleran then guided a neat ball to Bergin who thundered at goal for one last blast but his shot was blocked. That was it. Cork were good value for their win. Donagh Wiseman slotted in for Sean Og O hAilpin at the 11th hour and was extremely solid at full back while the redoubtable Ciaran O'Sullivan put in another honest day at the office at centre back.

While the burly Fachtna Collins chipped a couple of valuable points in the second half, it was Clifford who shone in the Cork attack. The young Bantry man has unquestionably become the spiritual leader of Larry Tompkins' team.

In many ways - pale limbs, economy of movement - he is not unlike the Larry Tompkins who blazed a trail for the Lee-siders over a decade ago. In this match, Clifford did his damage in the first half. After 12 minutes, he turned onto a pass from O'Sullivan and skipped clear to kick his first free. Two frees followed and then, after a half hour's play, he was loose again, snatching a long pass from Joe Kavanagh which left the Galway back line leaden-footed and thumping a shot past Padraig Lally to leave the score at 2-5 to 0-3.

Although he didn't score in the second half - Collins's two points were Cork's sole contribution to attacking flair after the break - he was still full of menace. After 54 minutes he danced through the heart of the Galway defence and casually directed a low shot which rolled inches wide. It could have - should have - ended the game. It was certainly a torturous afternoon for Clifford's marker, local lad Karl Donlon.

Instead, though, Galway clung doggedly to the tail-end of hope. There were some bright aspects to their game - John Divilly was in tenacious mood and upped the ante with a few scintillating dashes, and Richie Fahy governed his corner very well - but the elan and style which marked their 1998 adventures were absent. Jarlath Fallon frittered ineffectively on the periphery, Niall Finnegan cut a dissatisfied figure in the forwards and Sean O Domhnaill bore the hallmarks of frustration early on. Cork's new boys, Graham Canty and Ciaran Daly, did much to tighten up the visitors' defence and as the match ebbed on, Galway were forced to rely on Joyce's frees.

For Tompkins, it must have been a reassuring afternoon. The old Cork pragmatism, dormant before Christmas, was very much in evidence again. Although Galway raced into a 0-2 to 0-0 lead after five minutes courtesy of Fallon and John Donnellan, Cork exploited what openings were presented to them, most tellingly when Joe Kavanagh broke clear off a long ball and slid a neat shot under Lally after 25 minutes.

Down 1-5 to 0-2 at this point, Galway might well have feared a rout. But Cork never blew the game open and Galway couldn't quite claw back. Instead, the game just ticked away and ended. It was very much a league Sunday.

Cork: K O'Dwyer; M O'Donovan, D Wiseman, C Daly; G Canty, C O'Sullivan (0-1, a 50), J Meskella; M O'Sullivan, N Murphy; J Kavanagh (1- 0), J Canty, BJ O'Sullivan (0-2); P Clifford (1-4, two frees), F Collins (0-2), S Landers. Subs: D Davis for S Landers (half-time), S O'Brien for O'Sullivan (53 mins); M Kelleher for J Canty (61 mins).

Galway: P Lally; R Fahey, G Fahey, K Donlon; D Meehan, J Divilly, E Daly (0-1); S O 'Domhnaill, J Bergin; P Clancy, J Fallon (0-1), L Colleran; J Donnellan (0-1), P Joyce (1-5, frees), N Finnegan (0-1). Subs: T Meehan for K Donlon (40 mins); K Comer for N Finnegan (43 mins); K Walsh for O Domhnaill (43 mins); M Colleran for P Clancy (49 mins).

Referee: B Crowe (Cavan).