Galway topple Tipp

It wasn’t Richie Murray’s point that reduced the gap to five – although progressively Galway’s attack had been increasing its momentum – it was Damien Hayes’s goal a minute later that sent Tipp into a tailspin from which there was no recovery.
Ger Farragher sent in a ground ball, and the threat seemed to have been nullified when Hayes’s path to goal was sealed off by Hugh Maloney. Initially, it seemed as if Maloney might have fouled Hayes, but then it was Hayes who wrestled the defender to the ground as he turned towards the square. Referee Aodhan MacSuibhne’s whistle stayed silent, however, and Hayes’s rasping shot found the roof of the net.
In that instant, you could see the lifeblood draining out of Tipperary. From a position of dominance and control, they suddenly looked nervous and indecisive. To Galway’s credit, they sensed that their opponents no longer had the composure to seal the crack and they poured forward with Murray, Farragher and Alan Kerins all adding points in a joyous burst of scoring.
“I actually never felt comfortable during the match,” explained Tipp manager Ken Hogan solemnly. “In a way it was too nice a game, too much of exhibition hurling. We would tag on a point, and Galway would tag one back. We struggled in too many departments, and at this level if you don’t kill the game you get punished. So we can’t be looking for excuses.”
If Hogan never felt Tipp’s dominance was authentic, he was in a minority. With Eoin Kelly, who finished with a superb 1-9 (0-5 from play), in fine form during the first half, and with his brother Paul a source of inspiration at midfield, the favorites were in front by 2-9 to 0-10 at the interval.
There were few in the attendance of just over 40,000 who gave Galway much of a chance after goals by Tommy Dunne and Eoin Kelly from a penalty when the ever dangerous Michael Webster was brought down. Meanwhile, the Connacht county had hit 11 wides, and even when David Forde struck for a goal early in the second half, it wasn’t as if Galway were given a major lift.
If anything, Tipp continued to hurl with authority, but bit by bit, David Tierney came into the game more at midfield, while Murray, Kerins and Hayes all began to test the Tipp rearguard.
“In the first half we made the mistake of sending in too much high ball,” said manager Conor Hayes, “but once we started to use our pace and run at the Tipp backs we started to cause them problems.”
Then Damien Hayes scored his match-turning goal and the unease in the Tipp ranks was palpable.
“I think it finally happened for the players out there,” continued Conor Hayes, “a big-stage performance for them at last. It certainly erases the memory of last year’s game against Kilkenny, and I think this win can bring us on. If you come out of a game like that when you’re six points down and then win it, then it has to be huge. We got stronger as it went on, we finally found our form.”

Kilkenny 0-18 Limerick 0-13
The summer reaches its dog days, Kilkenny are still alive and kicking in the championship, but there is still ambivalence about Brian Cody’s team. Are they accelerating smoothly as the final approaches, or is there smoke beneath the hood? At Croke Park last Sunday, as they defeated Limerick in the last of the All Ireland quarter-finals, there were certainly a few wisps of it.
No goals, and not a single obvious chance, when Henry Shefflin, DJ Carey and Martin Comerford are on parade, and an uncharacteristic wobble during the second half when a tenacious Limerick outfit closed the gap to just a point. This was not vintage Kilkenny, and Cody wasn’t suggesting otherwise.
“That performance wouldn’t beat Galway,” he offered. “They’re very slick, very quick, very good hurlers. I suppose it goes without saying that they have a massive incentive to have another crack at us. Just like Limerick had an incentive. They got on a serious roll before half time, and then for a while in the second half they slaughtered us. I think they outscored us by eight points to one during a 20-minute period or something. That’s serious stuff and we won’t progress any further if it was to happen again.”
If Kilkenny struggled, they were made to struggle by a Limerick defense that played above its station especially in the second half when Eoin Larkin and Richie Power were both held scoreless and replaced. However, they had given their Leinster rivals far too much latitude in the opening stages when Shefflin was his customary sublime self.
Derek Lyng, Tommy Walsh and Comerford grabbed the opportunity to open up a 0-11 to 0-4 interval lead, and a facile victory looked the most likely scenario. But Limerick improved as Mark Foley, Brian Geary, Ollie Moran and Peter Lawlor started to make inroads, and although Donie Ryan had a goal disallowed for taking too many steps, the underdogs had sensed what was possible.
“We could’ve done with that goal,” said Limerick manager Joe McKenna, “nine times out of 10 you’d get it. I think the occasion got to the lads in the first half when we were tentative, but after that we did ourselves proud. The players are learning, they’re coming, and if we can add a few more players next year, I think Limerick can be serious about getting back up there.”
With 20 minutes left, the margin was one point, and against lesser opponents Limerick might have continued to make hay, however, Kilkenny once again revealed their competitive edge as Carey quickly intervened before Shefflin fired over two frees to restore some order.
“Championship matches are won sometimes not by magic, or by beauty or anything else, but by character and guts,” suggested Cody. “Being prepared to dig in, and I think we have always been able to do that. That’s often the most important thing, and we did it again really.”
Meanwhile, Laois defeated Antrim by 1-23 to 1-15 at Navan last Saturday to ensure that they will stay in the championship proper next season. James Young’s 11 points including eight frees was the key to victory over the Ulster county who will now be competing in the Christy Ring Cup in 2006.
All Ireland Hurling semi-finals: 14 August: Cork v Clare; 21 August: Kilkenny v Galway.

Mayo 0-11 Cavan 0-8
Mayo are through to Sunday’s All Ireland football quarter-final against Kerry, but if they perform as poorly as they did in last weekend’s fourth round qualifier at Hyde Park, then it won’t be worth their while turning up.
Bizarrely, it was if John Maughan’s team didn’t relish the prospect of another tilt at the team who defeated them in last year’s decider. Abysmal shooting and a general malaise were the order of the day, and for Cavan to lose against an off-color Mayo, well how bad was that?
For a group of players which had done some serious damage via the back door this summer, Cavan went out of the championship with barely a whimper. Quite how they failed to exploit Mayo’s dismal form will remain a mystery for much longer than the sour after taste of this non-event.
“We have shooting practice at every one of our training sessions,” said Maughan when asked about his forwards? myopic efforts. “Look it was just one of those occasions when you have a stinker and we hope it doesn’t happen again.” Kerry manager Jack O’Connor was in the Hyde Park attendance, and if he had dozed off for the full 70 minutes, he would be as wise about Mayo as he is today.
O’Connor will presume, just like Maughan, that a different Mayo will turn up at Croke Park on Sunday. There were 19 wides this time with their normally dependable marksmen, Austin O’Malley and Michael Moyles, affected by the general squandermania. Ciaran McDonald was also guilty, but placed at full forward, he was a handful for the Cavan defense.
Moyles, O’Malley and Alan Dillon kicked two points apiece, while Larry Reilly and Dermot McCabe had three each for the losers. By reaching the last round of the qualifiers, Cavan had journeyed farther than they had anticipated, but sadly this was more of a surrender than a defeat.

Cork 3-13 Sligo 0-11
Galway have been warned, their All Ireland quarter-final opponents Cork are a threat. Even if last Saturday’s qualifier against Sligo wasn’t the sort of test they had expected, Billy Morgan’s team did what they had to do at Portlaoise in emphatic style.
Sligo, after wins over Longford, Kildare and Clare, should have been in the mood to contemplate another scalp, but they had no answer to the attacking talents of Conor McCarthy, John Hayes, Brendan Jer O’Sullivan and James Masters, as well as the midfield power of Nicholas Murphy and Derek Kavanagh.
Goals by Murphy, Masters and Kevin MacMahon only highlighted the gulf between the sides, and when Sligo did manage to press forward, they were stopped in their tracks by the outstanding Graham Canty at full-back.
“We set ourselves a target of reaching the All Ireland quarter-finals,” said Morgan, “and now we’ll see how far we can go.” Galway will be a much more rounded proposition than Sligo, but Cork appear to be on a bit of a roll.

Second chances
Tyrone’s influential duo Peter Canavan and Stephen O’Neill, who were controversially sent off in the Ulster final replay against Armagh, have had their dismissals rescinded and will both be available to play against Monaghan in Saturday’s fourth round qualifier at Croke Park. Laois take on Derry at the same venue.
Meanwhile, there was plenty of action at minor level last weekend with Mayo edging out Armagh by 0-10 to 1-6 at Hyde Park to reach the All Ireland semi-finals. Mayo were more convincing winners than the scoreline suggested as Armagh’s goal by Colm Watters came in the fourth minute of injury time.
Offaly got the better of Cork by 1-9 to 0-12 at Portlaoise where Conor Mahon’s spectacular goal was a key factor in his county reaching the last four, while Down were 1-17 to 2-11 winners over Galway in a compelling game at Carrick-on-Shannon where James Colgan’s fisted point secured the victory.
In women’s football, Dublin made it four Leinster senior titles in a row when they defeated Meath by 2-13 to 1-13 at Dr Cullen Park, while Monaghan also retained their provincial crown in Ulster with a 2-8 to 1-6 win over Tyrone at Clones.
Meanwhile, tributes have been paid to legendary Cavan footballer Tony Tighe who died suddenly last weekend. Tighe had watched the All Ireland qualifier between Mayo and his native county at Hyde Park, but collapsed as he left the stadium after the game.
Tighe played in Cavan’s famous All Ireland final win over Kerry at the Polo Grounds in 1947.