Galway fightback falls short
By David Connors
GALWAY’S hurlers were last Sunday dethroned as All-Ireland champions by Limerick who after 45-year famine finally took Liam MacCarthy back to the Shannon.
The game as whole failed to the reach the lofty heights of what was a classic summer of small-ball action but in the final ten minutes exploded into life as Micheál Donoghue’s team cut a 68th-minute eight-point deficit to just one in the closing moments of action.
All-in-all, a draw wouldn’t have been a fair reflection on a game where Limerick were truly commanding against a misfiring Galway team who looked a yard or two off the pace for much of the game.
Perhaps the ninth championship game in a 17-week long season ultimately proved too gruelling a feat, especially when you factor in the successful but draining excursions of the previous year.
Only Kilkenny and Cork have managed to win back-to-back All-Ireland titles in the current century and Galway have only done so once in their history, back in ’87 and ’88. The Tribesmen won’t be repeating that accomplishment for another two years at the very least.