Kevin O’Brien reports from Bord na Mona O’Connor Park, Tullamore
AS IF GALWAY didn’t have enough firepower in attack, another young score-getter announced his arrival on the scene yesterday in the form of Brian Concannon.
Tribe manager Micheal Donoghue was understandably keen to avoid building up the 2015 All-Ireland minor winner when he spoke to the press outside the dressing rooms afterwards.
“He took his scores well” was about the height of the praise Donoghue offered for the young Killimordaly ace who finished with 2-1. His tally today means Brian Cody, Davy Fitzgerald and Pat Gilroy will have his card marked when they cross paths down the line.
The opening game of the Leinster SHC offered a first look at reigning All-Ireland champions in championship fare since they annexed the Liam MacCarthy last September. They barely left third gear yesterday but still managed to dispatch 5-18.
And if it wasn’t for Offaly’s best player Eoghan Cahill between the posts, Galway could conceivably have had seven or eight goals.
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Brian Concannon tackles Sean Gardiner Bryan Keane / INPHO
Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO
Joe Canning struggled to get into the game for long spells and had just two possessions in an extremely quiet first-half where he also missed a 10th-minute penalty.
But Cahill’s acrobatic brilliance denied Canning two certain goals in the second period as the Portumna star managed to get himself more involved. He was unerringly accurate from placed balls, as he usually is, and missed just one all evening.
Joseph Cooney had 1-4 on the board at half-time but didn’t register a score after that. Conor Cooney flitted in and out of the game, finishing with 0-2 before he was withdrawn on 58 minutes.
Conor Whelan pinged a shot off the post early on and made two superhuman assists in with a catch, run and handpass that led to a goal apiece from Cooney and Concannon. His tussle with Ben Conneely was one of the highlights of the game.
All six of Galway’s starting forwards scored from play, while Sean Loftus and Jason Flynn added 1-1 off the bench and Jonathan Glynn even appeared as a 66th-minute substitute.
As Donoghue alluded to afterwards, there’s plenty to work on before Kilkenny’s visit to Salthill.
Bryan Keane / INPHO
Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO
They were wasteful in some areas. Cathal Mannion scored a point but sent two wide, David Burke hit two wides and dropped another short.
Johnny Coen was withdrawn before the hour after being outhustled by Offaly’s midfield duo of David King and Shane Kinsella. Daithi Burke had a mixed opening 45 minutes of it, with Joe Bergin causing him problems on the edge of the square before the All-Star full-back eventually shored things up.
Defensively Galway were far more solid in the second-half and they managed to significantly reduce their free count, conceding just three scoreable placed balls after the break.
When they hit top form, they’ll be a frightening prospect.
It was an ideal scenario for the Tribesmen in many ways. They got the first game of the championship out of the way without much fuss, put up a big score and got some welcome game-time into the legs.
Donoghue’s men now have two weeks to prepare for Cody’s side, who’ll have an extra game under their belt by that stage. Whether that’ll be an advantage to the Cats or Tribe, it’s too early to say.
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Reigning All-Ireland champions show glimpses of class on first day out of the summer
Kevin O’Brien reports from Bord na Mona O’Connor Park, Tullamore
AS IF GALWAY didn’t have enough firepower in attack, another young score-getter announced his arrival on the scene yesterday in the form of Brian Concannon.
Tribe manager Micheal Donoghue was understandably keen to avoid building up the 2015 All-Ireland minor winner when he spoke to the press outside the dressing rooms afterwards.
“He took his scores well” was about the height of the praise Donoghue offered for the young Killimordaly ace who finished with 2-1. His tally today means Brian Cody, Davy Fitzgerald and Pat Gilroy will have his card marked when they cross paths down the line.
The opening game of the Leinster SHC offered a first look at reigning All-Ireland champions in championship fare since they annexed the Liam MacCarthy last September. They barely left third gear yesterday but still managed to dispatch 5-18.
And if it wasn’t for Offaly’s best player Eoghan Cahill between the posts, Galway could conceivably have had seven or eight goals.
Joe Canning struggled to get into the game for long spells and had just two possessions in an extremely quiet first-half where he also missed a 10th-minute penalty.
But Cahill’s acrobatic brilliance denied Canning two certain goals in the second period as the Portumna star managed to get himself more involved. He was unerringly accurate from placed balls, as he usually is, and missed just one all evening.
Joseph Cooney had 1-4 on the board at half-time but didn’t register a score after that. Conor Cooney flitted in and out of the game, finishing with 0-2 before he was withdrawn on 58 minutes.
Conor Whelan pinged a shot off the post early on and made two superhuman assists in with a catch, run and handpass that led to a goal apiece from Cooney and Concannon. His tussle with Ben Conneely was one of the highlights of the game.
All six of Galway’s starting forwards scored from play, while Sean Loftus and Jason Flynn added 1-1 off the bench and Jonathan Glynn even appeared as a 66th-minute substitute.
As Donoghue alluded to afterwards, there’s plenty to work on before Kilkenny’s visit to Salthill.
They were wasteful in some areas. Cathal Mannion scored a point but sent two wide, David Burke hit two wides and dropped another short.
Johnny Coen was withdrawn before the hour after being outhustled by Offaly’s midfield duo of David King and Shane Kinsella. Daithi Burke had a mixed opening 45 minutes of it, with Joe Bergin causing him problems on the edge of the square before the All-Star full-back eventually shored things up.
Defensively Galway were far more solid in the second-half and they managed to significantly reduce their free count, conceding just three scoreable placed balls after the break.
When they hit top form, they’ll be a frightening prospect.
It was an ideal scenario for the Tribesmen in many ways. They got the first game of the championship out of the way without much fuss, put up a big score and got some welcome game-time into the legs.
Donoghue’s men now have two weeks to prepare for Cody’s side, who’ll have an extra game under their belt by that stage. Whether that’ll be an advantage to the Cats or Tribe, it’s too early to say.
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