Galway’s impressive victory in the National Hurling League final last weekend hinted at the emergence of a side which could become genuine All-Ireland contenders.
The most impressive thing about Galway’s victory on Sunday, and there were many persuasive aspects, was perhaps the ratio of team scores to Joe Canning’s total.
In Galway’s biggest games over the past couple of years, Canning has always had to shoulder the burden of scores. Against Kilkenny in that memorable Leinster Championship game last summer, Canning scored 2-9 of 3-13, or a remarkable 68 per cent. In the win over Cork in the qualifiers, it was 50 per cent: 0-11 of 1-19. Defeat to Waterford? Again 50 per cent (0-9 of 0-18).
Canning was all the better for it. Instead of ambling outfield whenever Galway were handed a free, Canning was allowed to move around stealthily. The murderer in the mist.
In the defeat to Cork two years back, a 19-year-old Joe announced his arrival with 2-12 out of 2-15 – a quite ridiculous 85 per cent.
Clearly such ratios were unsustainable. Over-reliance on anyone, no matter how good they may be, is sure to be exposed at the business end of the Championship.
In the League final on Sunday, Canning helped himself to 1-5 out of 2-22, a meagre – by his lofty standards – 28 per cent of Galway’s tally.
The remainder of John McIntyre’s side stepped up to mark. The other five forwards contributed 1-8 from play. Sub Joe Gantley chipped in with 0-2. Midfielder Ger Farragher took the burden of placed balls away from Canning and hit five, including a 65.
And in a strange way, Canning was all the better for it. Instead of ambling outfield whenever Galway were handed a free, Canning was allowed to move around stealthily. The murderer in the mist.
For 20-odd minutes he barely touched it. Then he racked up 1-2 in a few minutes. The goal was as good as it gets. Not even a desperate grip of the big man’s stick by his marker Eoin Dillon could stop him rocketing an unstoppable drive past Donal Og Cusack.
The best score of the day, though, came in the second half when Canning controlled a long clearance high above his head with a couple of flicks of the stick and fired over the bar with barely a turn or a glance towards the posts.
If the rest of Galway’s players continue to rise to the challenge of sharing the burden with their brilliant star, they could well become genuine All-Ireland contenders later in the summer.
And with Tipperary also waiting in the long grass, Kilkenny’s fifth All-Ireland success, if it is to be so, could be their most difficult yet.
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