GAA: ALLIANZ HURLING LEAGUE DIVISION ONE:IT'S PROBABLY comforting for Galway to explain this pasting as one of those freakish things that occasionally happen at this time of the year. But viewed another way, it was also an extension of a worrying trend visible against Dublin in the previous week's Allianz Hurling League Division One.
When these counties met in last year’s All-Ireland quarter-final they produced one of the matches of 2010, which ultimately proved the launching pad for Tipperary’s sensational dethroning of Kilkenny.
What was on view yesterday before a crowd of 5,247 in Galway’s Pearse Stadium suggested the gap between the counties has grown exponentially and if that’s an exaggerated conclusion there’s still no denying the quality of Tipp’s play on a sunny April afternoon.
Galway were missing important front-line players but their opponents were also short four All Stars from last year.
Tipperary won everywhere, their defence not allowing Galway to gain a foothold, which might have helped them back into the match, their centrefield driving forward and the attack showing a range of strokes and vision that accounted for all but two points of the bulky total, just three points of which came from the placed ball.
The day’s star turn was Shane Bourke. His energy and skilful touches persecuted Galway and he ended the afternoon with 3-4, all scored from play. Supplementing this barrage was an attack in which all of the starting six plus two replacements scored from play.
Manager Declan Ryan commended his corner forward’s application after a subdued display the previous week in Cork and also praised Larry Corbett, current hurler of the year, who was in lively form on just his second start of the season after recovering from injury, finishing with four points from play.
“He was disappointed to have been taken off at half-time against Cork and it’s probably a new level for Shane but he has been training very well and I’m sure he’ll be very pleased with his performance. Lar (Corbett) is also coming back to himself but it’s not easy to start off where he left off last year. He’s getting a bit of training under his belt and we’re certainly happy with his performance too.”
The signs were ominous for Galway by the break, as they turned over two behind having benefited from the obligatory Salthill wind. Yet for a while the home side looked as if they might be settling into the larcenous mood of the previous week when they filched a win from a profligate Dublin with an injury-time goal.
In the 10th minute, with the visitors having done most of the hurling, Eoin Forde, a late call-up and Galway’s best forward, scrambled home a goal to put his side two up, 1-1 to 0-2. But Tipperary were not going to gift Galway the number of missed opportunities from which they had benefited at Parnell Park.
From the moment Pa Bourke’s pointed free pushed Tipperary in front in the 18th minute they never lost the lead and it took a further three minutes before they hit their first wide. By then John O’Brien had fired in the first goal, moving unhindered on to Pa Bourke’s line ball and hammering past Colm Callanan.
By scoring the last four points of the half, including two sharp scores from Forde and Adrian Cullinane, Galway were doing better at half-time, 1-8 to 1-10, than was strictly reflective of the play but facing into the wind in the second half they disintegrated.
In the 39th minute Shane Bourke got his first goal, a tightly-angled strike after a glorious sequence of interplay by the Tipp forwards. By the time replacement Johnny Coen had steamed through for Galway’s first point of the half in the 47th minute, the winners had racked up 1-5 without reply. Bourke added his second, a deft flip of the ball to flick the goal past Callanan and the third, tearing on to the rampant (four points from play) Patrick Maher’s pass in from the left corner and burying the sliotar.
“Really the damage was done in the first half,” said Galway manager John McIntyre afterwards. “We were playing with a very strong wind, it mightn’t have looked it from the stand but to go in two points down having had nearly the assistance of a gale, I knew we were in trouble.
“We tried to . . . we were plugging gaps and fire fighting on the line all day. It is a bad day at the office. There are no excuses. We are after getting a kick up the rear end. Hopefully we will all learn from it. We need to up our game.
“The Galway supporters turned out in big numbers today. I am disappointed we produced a performance that they won’t be proud of but more importantly the team management and the players won’t be proud of.”
GALWAY: C Callanan; D Joyce, C O'Donovan, G O'Halloran; D Barry, T Regan, A Cullinane (0-1); D Burke (0-1, free), G Farragher (0-5, 0-4 frees); J Cooney, A Smith (0-2), C Donnellan; E Ryan, I Tannian (0-1), E Forde (1-2). Subs: N Donoghue for O'Halloran (30 mins), A Harte (0-1) for Cooney (38 mins), J Lee for Joyce (45 mins), J Coen (0-1) for Farragher (46 mins), D Hayes for Regan (61 mins).
TIPPERARY: D Gleeson; M Cahill, P Curran, J Coghlan; D Young, Páraic Maher, J O'Keeffe; G Ryan (0-1), S McGrath (0-1); P Bourke (0-4, 0-1 free, 0-1 65), Patrick Maher (0-4), B Dunne (0-1); S Burke (3-4), J O'Brien (1-1), L Corbett (0-4). Subs: B O'Meara (0-1) for O'Brien (47 mins), S Carey (0-2, one free) for Dunne (54 mins), J Woodlock for O'Keeffe (63 mins), M Gleeson for Ryan (64 mins), J O'Neill for Corbett (67 mins).
Referee: J Owens (Wexford).
