Senior hurlers fail to spark against Galway

Sun, 17th February 2019

HL DIVISION 1B

GALWAY 0-20 DUBLIN 1-11

Hosts Galway were deserving winners as Dublin struggled to make the desired impact in Sunday's HL Division 1B clash at Pearse Stadium, Salthill.

Apart from Danny Sutcliffe's goal, which made it 0-5 to 1-1, the Dubs lacked spark and there was never any doubt about the eventual outcome heading down the home straight in front of a crowd of 6,983.

Dublin have conceded their 100 per cent record following comfortable victories over Carlow and Offaly and now prepare for two games in Parnell Park against Waterford (Sunday, February 24) and Laois (Sunday, March 3) with the top four counties progressing to the quarter-finals.

Galway, after playing with the wind led 0-13 to 1-4 at the interval, with the accuracy of Joe Canning from placed balls to the fore and the dynamism of Cathal Mannion a telling factor.

Dublin's goal arrived in the 15th minute when Oisín O'Rorke won possession before leaving Jack Grealish in his wake and presenting Sutcliffe with the opportunity.

But Galway reeled off the next five scores without reply before Rian McBride converted a sideline before adding a point from play.

The second-half started with promise for Mattie Kenny's men when half-time sub Donal Burke pointed in the opening minute.

However, three points on the spin from the Tribesmen dampened any hope of a Dublin revival in the second period.

“When you come down to places like Pearse Stadium, against a quality team like Galway, then you’ll know where you’re at and you’re not in any false position,” said Dublin manager Mattie Kenny afterwards.

“Galway are All-Ireland champions from 2017. They are one of the top two sides … that’s the standard that we’ve got to get to.

“Any time you lose, you’re a bit disappointed. Hopefully, they will learn something and it will stand to us as the year goes on," added Mattie.

“A lot of these guys have played an awful lot of Fitzgibbon games. We talked about it a few weeks ago, the load that is on them.

“I’m not making any excuses, but Galway looked that big sharper and they were more top-of-the-ground and we looked leggy all across the field.”

SCORERS - Galway: J Canning 0-8 (0-8f), C Mannion 0-4, S Bleahene 0-2, A Harte, S Loftus, N Burke, C Whelan, J Flynn, D Glennon 0-1 each. Dublin: R McBride (0-1 sideline), D Treacy (0-2f, 0-1 '65') 0-3 each, D Sutcliffe 1-0, E Dillon 0-2, J Hetherton (0-1f), D Burke, S Moran (0-1f) 0-1 each.

GALWAY: F Flannery; J Grealish, R Burke, A Harte; K Hussey, P Mannion, G McInerney; C Mannion, S Loftus; N Burke, J Canning, C Whelan; SBleahene, J Flynn, D Glennon. Subs: T Monaghan for Glennon (inj, 55), P Killeen for Hussey (67), K Cooney for Flynn (69), S Kilduff for Loftus (73), J Mannion for Bleahene (73).

DUBLIN: A Nolan; C O’Callaghan, E O’Donnell, P Smyth; C Crummey, S Moran, S Barrett; D O’Connell, R McBride; J Malone, J Hetherton, F Whitely; D Sutcliffe, E Dillon, O O’Rorke. Subs: D Treacy for Whitely (21), L Rushe for Hetherton (26), D Burke for O’Connell (ht), D Gray for O’Callaghan (inj 38), S Treacy for O’Rorke (49).

REF: J Owens (Wexford).