Galway by a whisker

AUGUST 19 will see Galway’s senior hurlers contest back-to-back All-Ireland finals as they aim to match the achievements of the legendary 1987-88 sides, following Sunday's thrilling replay win over Clare.
The similarities in this contest to the drawn encounter were there to be seen in yet another heart-pumping, edge-of-your-seat battle between these two neighbours with the resemblance including another large, early Galway lead and a dogged Clare comeback that ultimately fell just short.
Injury doubts for the men from Connacht was the main talking point prior to the game, but everyone featured except for Gearóid McInerney, who emerged fully togged out from the dressing-room but failed to take part in the warm-up drills and quickly returned to the dugout soon after. Mind games, perhaps?
The other topic of discussion in the lead-up was how Galway were going to stifle the influence of Clare’s sweeper Colm Galvin, after the Clonlara clubman completely changed the game the first day out.