Galway GAA discussion thread

First of all to give Tipp fans their due, they aren't the most liked county around the country due to their arrogance (perceived or otherwise) but I thought they were classy today. Losing by a point they had the excuse of Barry Kelly giving one or two dodgy calls our way or whatever but while they were sickened they were very gracious in defeat and went up hugely in my estimation today. Noel McGrath coming on was inspirational regardless of your allegiance and briefly broke the sort of mad belief around the stadium that this match was the most important thing ever but not for long. Any other day you'd have been delighted if he had got the winner even if you had no time for Tipp but we have been on the flip side of these gut wrenching losses so many times over the years I honestly don't think I could have faced Croke Park again if we lost a game where we were definitely the better side on the day.

For the first time in my lifetime I can say I am proud of the Galway senior hurling team as a team of real substance. I have never felt so emotional leaving a hurling game in Croke Park. We had good one off days or a couple of good results/performances out of nowhere during the 90's, 2001, 2005, 2012 and all the intervening years but this year since the Dublin replay we have hurled consistently. Ok we weren't at the races 100% against Kilkenny but we stayed going and were still in the game towards the finish. After the Waterford league game I really despaired as to where Galway hurling was going, it wasn't the loss but the manner of the loss which was so disturbing. We were only ok against Dublin the first day in a poor game but we did battle that day and lived to fight another day and we have built from there.

For a team that have deservedly got flack for lacking character, heart, spirit whatever you want to call it over the years, they had it in abundance today. So many times over the years we'd be hurling well and a goal would go in and that would prompt the collapse. This time, we kept fighting, kept responding to every hammer blow and were fully deserving winners.

The main positive I'd see is that a number of Galway players have room for improvement. There is at least 5 or 6 players who will need to up their game, very harsh after such a trojan effort by everyone but it will take a full 20 man effort to beat Kilkenny.

However, must say I had my doubts on Tannian and he was struggling during the first half a bit but he was superb as the game wore on. Andy Smith is really leading by example this year and David Burke gave his first performance of substance since 2012, showing us the quality we know he has. Conor Whelan's battling qualities are superb, didn't know would he survive but he did more than that and his hard work won us a few crucial points directly or indirectly.

Glynn wasn't as effective as against Cork but won us some vital turnovers, Donnellan will need to up his game for Kilkenny.

Colm Callanan deserves an All-Ireland medal for all the times he has saved us this year even going back to the league. Superb again today. Johnny Coen put in a huge shift and Hanbury until he had to go in on Callanan is continuing to prove himself. Daithi Burke again came up with some key catches during the game and is growing with each day out.

Looking to the final we have it all to do. Obviously Seamus Callanan was superb but we were slow to identify the problems in there and could never address them at any stage. Easier said that done I know but if we give free rein to TJ Reid or Richie Hogan we can forget Liam McCarthy crossing the Shannon in 2015.

It will take an almighty effort, we must cutt out the errors and abundance of goal chance we offered up today but opportunities like this don't come along too often. If we get it right on the day and knock Kilkenny out of their stride early who knows. We were never going to beat Kilkenny twice in a championship season. 6th of September will hopefully be the day we can put 27 years of heartbreak, despair and soul destroying defeats behind us. The most important thing in my mind though is that the mentality displayed by this team and indeed the minor team today is carried on. Hopefully we'll soon be hearing the last of that dreaded phrase 'which Galway team will turn up'?

Minors were extremely fortunate to win. Kilkenny should have killed us off but once again they dug in and got the breaks and the panel made the difference. Tipp will be another step up in the final but 3 games down and no goals conceded which is a good platform. We need to be more intelligent about frees though, at least 4 frees we shot for goal from unscorable positions. If its not scorable, we need to look for runners or put men in around the goal to cause problems.

MfMan wrote: »

In fairness it was only the Keady thing in '89 that engendered the bitterness, and many in Galway still don't realise that Tipp voted pro-Keady in the ballot and that 3/5 counties in Connacht voted contra- (backstabbing surrender monkeys).

Don't like bad feeling between fans; there's always an odd comment thrown but the banter between rival supporters, especially on the day of a big match, adds greatly to the occasion, and is part of the GAA ethos IMHO.

FWIW what happened to a terrific player such as Tony Keady that year was one of the lousiest things ever to do to an amateur athlete. A total and utter disgrace. Paul Delaney had also hurled in the US that year and wasnt banned. Neither should have been.

I dont care if it was by some bizarre technicality, 'against the rules'. I have never heard of such a bullshít rule in all of my life. What advantage did Keady hurling in America give Galway? None whatsover. You'd think it was the equivalent of drugs. Most nonsensical rule ive ever come across and those suits who stuck in the knife of course probably never played the game but unfortunately such is the archaic organisation in parts the GAA is and unfortunatley continues to be on occasion, (with the recent flip a coin to see who makes the camogie quarters), that is the way things conspired.