For the following year’s reorganised Allianz League, Galway has assured their prominent position, however, they will face next Saturday’s conflict with All-Ireland champions from Limerick, devoid of their captain Conor Whelan and former leader Daithi Burke. Both were dismissed with red cards in an unusual match at Pearse Stadium where Galway ended up with merely twelve players on field; Dublin finishing the game with 14.
Galway’s corner back Jack Grealish was sent off after 40 minutes due to a second yellow card whereas Dublin’s Ronan Hayes faced the same fate seven minutes later for the same reason. Dublin showcased a marked improvement, but Galway’s 2017 All-Ireland triumphant manager, Michéal Donoghue, is of the opinion that his team needs to amp up their offence for the forthcoming championship, as they were outscored 10-1 in the last quarter.
Despite only having one player from his team dismissed, Donoghue, like his Galway equivalent Henry Shefflin, contested some decisions made by Limerick referee Johnny Murphy, who issued eleven yellow cards, four red and one black in a match that was competitive but not aggressive.
Donoghue remarked on the nature of the match, mentioning a strong initial performance till half-time, then a rather disappointing final quarter. He expressed some dissatisfaction over the refereeing and perceived influence of the audience on the referee’s decisions. He chose not to further comment on those decisions, however. He noted that despite giving Dublin the chance to capitalise, Galway failed to fully seize their own opportunities.
In a post-match dialogue, Shefflin lamented the focus on referees’ decisions rather than the game itself, while expressing displeasure over the treatment his captain Whelan received, culminating in his dismissal.
In the late arrival of Daithi’s incident, it was perceived more as a shoulder-to-shoulder discrepancy which leaves some questions open for me, I must reflect on it again. Whelan’s red card wasn’t seen by me, despite his being a noteworthy player known for his rough style, who largely doesn’t receive the necessary safeguarding.
The first half spanned an incident which spared the forward from getting any protection; an issue that should’ve been addressed by the referee. Instead, today’s discourse seems to be revolving around the referee’s performance when ideally, their role should never catch our attention, let alone be the focus of a conversation, unfortunately for both sides of the teams.
Shefflin enunciated, “As an observer, my interest lies in unimpeded hurling, and not the referee shifting into the spotlight, which regrettably we find ourselves discussing at present.”
Galway, with a total of 30 players having participated this season, including favourites Joseph Cooney, Cathal Mannion and Brian Concannon who have returned for the first time, led with a score of 1-10 to 1-8 after the first half, despite playing against the wind.
Galway’s Conor Cooney shone in his free-taking skills, scoring all ten and one from play, leading his team. However, Cian O’Sullivan and Donal Burke posed the primary challenge for Dublin.
In the 17th minute, Cooney enabled Whelan to score Galway’s first goal making it 1-5 to 0-4. However, when Galway’s full-back Fintan Burke fouled Diarmuid Ó Dúlaing after 31 minutes, a black card was shown which presented Dublin with a turning point.
In an impressive move, Burke scored a penalty that brought Dublin to the lead for the first time in this match. Despite being outnumbered, Galway managed to outscore Dublin by 1-4 to 0-3 leveraging Joseph Cooney and Gavin Lee’s help, gaining a two-point lead at half time.
After the break, Burke and O’Sullivan’s scores led the teams to an even footing, each racking up points four times to tie at 1-14 apiece in the last quarter. However, both teams were then reduced to 14 players.
In a dramatic turn of events, Galway’s corner-back Grealish was sent off after receiving a second yellow card at 45 minutes into the game. Likewise, Dublin found themselves one man down when Ronan Hayes was given his marching orders for his second booking at the 52-minute mark.
However, Galway skilfully capitalised on the situation, scoring an uninterrupted run of ten points, with Conor Cooney contributing seven, leading to their triumphant win.
Galway’s line-up consisted of D Fahy, J Grealish, F Burke, P Mannion, A Tuohey, C Fahy (0-1), Daithí Burke, David Burke (0-1), S Linnane, G Lee (0-2), T Monaghan (0-4), J Cooney (0-3), C Cooney (0-11, ten free kicks), C Whelan (1-0) and J Flynn.
Their reserves were B Concannon, who replaced Flynn at 43 minutes, C Mannion (0-1) taking over from Lee at 55 minutes, R Glennon substituting David Burke at 60 minutes, E Niland taking over from J Cooney at 64 minutes and D O’Shea swapping with Linnane at 67 minutes.
Dublin’s team entailed E Gibbons, J Madden, P Smyth, D Gray, C Burke, C Crummey, C Donohoe (0-1), B Hayes, D Power, S Currie, R Hayes (0-1), D Burke (1-9, 1-0 penalty, six free kicks without any 65s), D Sutcliffe, C O’Sullivan (0-3) and D Ó Dúlaing (0-1).
Their substitutions included M Grogan for Gray at 23 minutes, F Whitely subbing Sutcliffe at 49 minutes, D Purcell taking over from Ó Dúlaing at 56 minutes, P Crummey substituting Currie at 62 minutes and S Gallagher taking over from Power at 67 minutes.
Johnny Murphy from Limerick was the official referee.
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