The tendency for pundits to “talk up” the winners of tight games was never more in evidence than after last Saturday’s hurling qualifier between Galway and Cork. Both on television and in the press we had people pontificating on why Galway deserved to win, how they wanted it more, how they played better hurling, etc. The play statistics do indicate that Galway were the busier side in the second half (78 plays to Cork’s 58, after Cork had shaded the first half 87/84), but ,ultimately, their victory was due less to superior quality than to a combination of fortuitous events which all worked in their favour.

This column is usually inclined to dismiss those who argue that over-reliance on scores from frees indicates a team with inferior forwards, as normally these frees awarded due to pressure being exerted on the offending backs by said forwards. However, last Saturday’s game was exceptional in that only one of Joe Canning’s pointed frees came from a foul where serious pressure was being exerted by the Galway forwards. This came in the 39th minute when Aonghus Callinan was fouled when running at the Cork defence. The other seven pointed frees came from fouls where the Cork goal was not under any direct threat – in fact in three cases the foul was in the other half of the field.

Given the distances and angles involved in some of these frees, Joe Canning’s 100 per cent accuracy was almost unreal, and of crucial importance to the eventual result, as Cork themselves missed four scorable frees. Add in Canning’s point from a fortuitous sideline and we can see that over one third of Galway’s scores resulted as much from a lack of discipline on Cork’s part as from good play on Galway’s.

Galway’s win was also fortuitous in that the game-breaking goal came when Canning’s deflected shot, which could have gone anywhere, fell directly to the unmarked Joe Gantley in front of an open goal. This goal came in the 63rd minute and was actually only the third scoring chance (apart from Canning’s frees) created by Galway in the second half. Even then, Cork missed two golden opportunities to get a goal back, with Niall McCarthy hitting wide from virtually straight in front of an open goal and the unmarked Aisake Ó hAilpín failing to control the ball close to the edge of the square – further examples of good fortune falling the way of the Tribesmen.

Overall, in terms of primary possession gained and genuine scoring chances created, there was very little between the teams. Galway won 14 of Cork’s 26 clearly-won puckouts, while Cork won 12 of Galway’s 22. While Galway created twenty scoring chances to Cork’s 17 (excluding frees awarded in non-threatening circumstances), three of these came in the closing stages when Cork had lost their shape and were in disarray. The point we are making is that this game could have gone either way right up to the 70th minute, and it was only in added time that Galway got the extra scores which put a misleading gloss on their ultimate victory margin. If Waterford manage to avoid giving away needless fouls within shooting distance, Galway will have to significantly increase the rate at which they create chances if they are to realise their hopes of progressing beyond next Sunday’s quarter final.

A key feature of the Galway performance was their batting down of ball to waiting colleagues around the middle of the park. If Waterford can either prevent the batting at source, or get players under the dropping ball, they will go a long way to closing off a key source of possession for the Tribesmen. Another key source of possession in the game against Clare, John Lee, had a very subdued game on Saturday. At a crucial stage in the second half, he failed to stop three balls in a row, driven down the middle, from progressing on to the full back line where better forwards could have done serious damage. There will also be concern at Niall Healy’s and Cyril Donnellan’s no-shows, although these should be balanced against the significant contributions made by Joe Gantley and Kevin Hayes when introduced.

The big bonus for Galway was the super performance of Aonghus Callanan at right half-forward. His 21 plays and 48 quality points were way ahead of everyone else on the pitch and for once the TV pundits got their man-of-the-match award right. John McIntyre will also be delighted with Ger Farragher’s input at midfield – his 34 quality points from 14 plays also exceeded the best Cork had to offer. However, no other Galway player came near breaking the 30 quality points barrier, indicative of a game lacking in real quality (and undoubtedly affected by the terrible weather conditions).

For Cork, Ben O’Connor was once again the top performer (32 points from 16 plays), with Shane O’Neill (31/14) and Ronan Curran (30/14) also breaking the 30-point barrier. Denis Walsh will have been pleased with another good day out for his young full back line, but the lack of new forward talent down by the Lee is now approaching crisis point, and Cork’s absence from this year’s Munster minor and under-21 finals suggests that the supply line is getting rather threadbare. However, past experience should warn us against making any predictions about the imminent demise of Cork hurling.

In the other qualifier last Saturday, Limerick made heavy weather of getting over the Laois hurdle, and Niall Rigney will curse the absence of James Young and Zane Keenan on such a day of opportunity. Nevertheless, there was something very predictable about the final outcome, with Limerick’s superior experience and fitness and, indeed, skill coming to the fore as the game went down to the wire. They will not have the same advantages against Dublin and will have it all to do to prevent the Metropolitans (as they were quaintly called before they were dubbed the Dubs) from making an historic breakthrough next Sunday.

Individual plays (quality points total in brackets):

Galway 162 (343): Callanan C 4 (10) Moore F 12 (25); Kavanagh S 6 (10); Canning O 10 (22); Joyce D 9 (19); Lee J 10 (19); Lynch E 14 (26); Farragher G 14 (34); Hynes K 10 (22); Callanan A 21 (48); Donnellan C 5 (8); Smyth A 10 (23); Hayes D 8 (21); Canning J 13 (25); Healy N 6 (9); Gantley 3 (7); Hayes K 5 (12); Forde E 2 (3); Coen A no plays.

Cork 145 (309): Cusack D 9 (22); O’Neill S 14 (31); Cadogan E 8 (19); O’Sullivan C 8 (15); Gardiner J 10 (19); Curran R 14 (30); Ó hAilpín S 12 (27); Kenny T 7 (18); O’Connor J 14 (27); O’Connor B 16 (32); Cronin P 6 (13); McCarthy T 6 (10); Murphy K 8 (19); Ó hAilpín A 3 (7); Horgan P 4 (7); McCarthy N 3 (6); Murphy T 1 (1); Callinan G 2 (6)

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