Three second half goals helped Galway overturn a 10-point half time deficit against Kildare when the sides faced in Round 3 of the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship.
On a sunny afternoon where many had them listed as lambs for slaughter, the Kildare hurlers spat in the face of any such notion of this fixture being a foregone conclusion.
The Lilies began with a strong wind at their backs, but a breeze never won a turnover. The Lilies began with a strong wind at their backs, but a breeze never won a turnover. Putting their 10-point half-time lead solely down to the conditions would do an enormous disservice to their battling endeavours.
After an early Galway wide, Kildare got scoring under way through Cathal McCabe after Darragh Melville got through serious work to recycle possession to the Maynooth man.
Rian Boran grabbed Kildare’s second with an effort from well inside his own half.
John Fleming opened Galway’s account and The Lilies responded instantly with the game’s first goal.
Conan Boran sent a ball deep into the forward line where visiting captain Darren Morrissey looked favourite to collect. Morrissey got caught under the dropping ball and Muiris Curtin nipped in to grab possession before sharply cutting inside and finding the corner of the net. Kildare led 1-2 to 0-1 after five fast minutes of play.
Curtin fashioned another chance at goal following some sloppy Galway defending but saw his second effort blocked wide. The resulting ‘65 was knocked over by Jack Sheridan.
Kildare were finding space and finding one another. They took a six-point lead when Paddy McKenna found Gerry Keegan who then offloaded to Muiris Curtin to fire over.
Rian Boran added his second before The Lilies’ lead was extended further after Paddy McKenna intercepted a Galway pass across his box which was worked forward to Curtin who was fouled before Sheridan converted the set-piece.
While Kildare made hay, Galway were sloppy and second best. The Tribesmen are an outfit of immense quality but looked devoid of it in their passing and shooting in the opening half.
Brian Dowling’s men went nine clear with a point from Gerry Keegan which earned ‘oohs’ and ‘ahs’ from the home support as the Celbridge forward faked to shoot and dropped two maroon bodies to the floor before scoring.
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Cathal Mannion got Galway’s second point in the 13th minute and Kildare fired back through Paul Dolan after a superb Simon Leacy turnover.
Back-to-back Conor Whelan points gave Galway a lift as a couple of stray Kildare long balls were punished.
Kildare responded with the game’s next five points, a run which was kicked off by a stunning score over his shoulder from Muiris Curtin. A free from Sheridan, another from Curtin and two more from Gerry Keegan completed the Kildare burst which saw them take a 12-point lead.
Cathal Mannion broke the spell with a ‘65 before another Sheridan free restored that advantage with five minutes to the break.
The Tribesmen did take a chunk out of that lead before the interval when Conor Whelan slid the ball across to Rory Burke. The corner-forward set himself and found the far corner of the net in confident style with Galway’s dangermen having too much room to breathe.
Jack Sheridan got the first half’s final point as Kildare carried a 1-15 to 1-5 advantage at the break.
The half-time whistle drew rapturous applause for the home side from what certainly felt like the best supporting contingent that the Kildare hurlers have enjoyed this year. It was a well-earned reception for a mighty first half effort from The Lilywhites.
Galway wasted no time in eating into that deficit however and had halved it within five minutes of the restart.
Points from Conor Cooney and Cathal Mannion were followed by a goal from half-time substitute Thomas Monaghan after The Tribesmen broke down the left side of Kildare. Monaghan fired into the far corner from a supremely tight angle to grab an excellent goal.
It was tit for tat in the minutes that followed with Simon Leacy’s second and Sheridan’s latest free being matched by scores from Tiernan Killeen and Rory Burke at the other end.
Galway’s third goal was perhaps the most heart-wrenching for the home support with Cathal Mannion initially brilliantly denied by Paddy McKenna, Conor Whelan’s follow up blocked on the line by Rian Boran before Daithí Burke came in to eventually breach the Kildare net. The centre-back’s green flag made this a two-point game at 1-17 to 3-9 after 47 minutes of play.
Conor Whelan got Galway into double figures for points before the visitors added another as the countdown reached 20 minutes to go and level terms had been reached.
Sheridan responded for The Lilies who were now scratching and clawing to keep their noses in front. Thomas Monaghan levelled things again before a Cathal Mannion free gave Galway their first lead of the game with 15 minutes to go.
The Tribesmen flooded the centre of the pitch in the second half and were getting enormous joy from their efforts to reduce the space available to Kildare players. No doubt turnover count had massively shifted from the home side to the away side in the second half of this game.
After Daire Guerin got Kildare back on terms with a stunner from out wide, Mannion edged his side ahead again before Galway’s fourth goal on the hour mark pulled them clear for the first time.
It was Mannion to Burke to Whelan who found the net as the visitors moved further ahead thanks to the work of a few of their star men.
Gerry Keegan fired back for Kildare to reduce the gap to three but The Lilies looked as if they had already emptied their tanks.
Galway took over down the home stretch and knocked the next three scores in a row as a part of a dominant closing spell.
The Tribesmen put some gloss on the scoreline to emerge as 4-22 to 1-22 winners after a cracking game in Newbridge.
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Galway: Thomas Monaghan 1-4, Conor Whelan 1-3, Rory Burke 1-3, Cathal Mannion 0-5 (0-3 frees, 1 x ’65), Daithí Burke 1-0, Tiernan Killeen 0-2, Oisin Lohan 0-2, John Fleming 0-1, Conor Cooney 0-1, Darragh Neary 0-1.
Kildare: Jack Sheridan 0-8 (0-5 frees, 2 x ’65), Muiris Curtin 1-3, Gerry Keegan 0-4, Rian Boran 0-2, Cathal McCabe 0-1, Paul Dolan 0-1, Simon Leacy 0-1, Daire Guerin 0-1, Cathal Dowling 0-1.
GALWAY: Darach Fahy; Joshua Ryan, Cillian Trayers, Darren Morissey; Padraic Mannion, Daithí Burke, Gavin Lee; Cian Daniels, Tiernan Killeen; Conor Cooney, Cathal Mannion, John Fleming; Rory Burke, Conor Whelan, Colm Molloy. Subs: Ronan Glennon for Joshua Ryan (Half-time), Thomas Monaghan for Colm Molloy (Half-time), Darragh Neary for Conor Cooney (50 minutes), Cianan Fahy for John Fleming (56 minutes), Oisin Lohan for Tiernan Killeen (64 minutes).
KILDARE: Paddy McKenna; Liam O’Reilly, Rian Boran, Richy Hogan; Paul Dolan, Conan Boran, Simon Leacy; Cathal McCabe, Dan O’Meara; Jack Travers, Daire Guerin, Gerry Keegan; Darragh Melville, Muiris Curtin, Jack Sheridan. Subs: Cathal Dowling for Paul Dolan (46 minutes), Tim Ryan for Darragh Melville (58 minutes), Caolan Smith for Jack Travers (59 minutes), Evan O’Briain for Liam O’Reilly (64 minutes), Harry Carroll for Simon Leacy (72 minutes).
Referee: Caymon Flynn (Westmeath)
