Wexford 1-19 Galway 1-19
There will be lots of twitchy drives home over the course of these provincial hurling campaigns, one eye on the road ahead, the other on the rear-view mirror, Henry Shefflin caught cleanly in between on his way out of Wexford on Saturday night.
The Shefflin era looked set to begin in earnest, Galway seemingly safe in front of a Wexford team giving desperate chase, until the five minutes of added time, when they threw it all away. When Wexford levelled at the death they celebrated as if victors, as well they might.
Wexford manager Darragh Egan declined any interviews, though it hardly mattered. Six points down at half-time, again with seven minutes of normal time remaining, the raging courage of his team, inspired by Conor McDonald and Lee Chin, spoke for itself.
For Shefflin, talking matters were different, beginning with one of the closing passages of play which unquestionably cost them the win. Tom Monaghan put Galway four in front again just as the 70-minutes spilled into the five minutes added on, all of which were lorded by Wexford.
Step up Chin, on after 48 minutes for his brilliant cameo. He hit all four of Wexford’s reply, a quite stunning display for a player out for weeks with a hamstring pull. Two frees in succession bought Wexford back to two, only when Padraic Mannion made one great fetch it looked like Galway would hang on.
Instead, Galway lost more nerve, Conor Cooney wasting time over the free; from the throw-in Chin sent the ball over the bar and all of Wexford were now roaring with them. Another free from Wexford, right on the 75 minutes and from some 65m out, was converted by Chin to earn the draw and rapturous applause. Unlikely yes, undeserving no.
“Yeah, absolutely,” said Shefflin, when asked if that was a win Galway left behind. “And are we disappointed in the dressing room? Yes, and it should hurt and that’s the way we feel in the dressing room. I’m sure Wexford think the opposite, but for me yes, the match was in our grasp, and after 72 minutes we were two points up.
“We’ll pick it up and reassess and go for next week with Westmeath. That’s the way this campaign is, this is the beauty for everyone else of the round-robin. We still have three games at home, that’s where we need to start strong and get the win up in Salthill.”
Shefflin clearly wasn’t impressed by Cooney surrendering that late free: “Talking about home advantage, in this kind of competition, the moment Conor got the free, I could sense that the crowd were on his back. Obviously then he made his decision, which I felt was really harsh on him.
“I did sense the crowd were straight on Conor’s back the minute it was (given). The minute he stepped over the free. It probably was a thing, going on timing, but he was sensing it. When Conor picked up the grass, it probably was the final nail for him. Overall in the second half, I don’t know what his free count was but it definitely seemed to go against us.”
Galway were sitting on a narrow lead for long stages after Brian Concannon’s goal after five minutes, and in the end simply took their eye off the win. With seven minutes of normal time remaining. McDonald mined a goal back for Wexford, deftly flicking into the Galway net, surrounded by defenders, after initially miscuing his kick. Suddenly they were back to three, 1-18 to 1-15. Game back on in every sense, McDonald keeping them in it.
In those last 10 minutes, Eanna Murphy also pulled off one great stop from O’Connor, Galway definitely living dangerously. It took a while to generate some championship spirit, only once it did it was roaring; six points down at half-time, scoring only four points in the opening 30 minutes, Wexford came back to life because they simply had to.
There was some sense Shefflin kept a little powder dry until now; Galway’s first championship since the Joe Canning era, their intention to get going from the off here was clear, just not accurate. Rory O’Connor struck first for Wexford with a free, after Galway had sent their first four shots at goal wide - three of them off the hurl of Conor Cooney.
Suitably peeved, Cooney won the puck-out from his third wide and promptly charged down on goal, deftly passing off to Concannon who struck clear into the Wexford net.
Four points from Wexford in the opening 30 minutes was as poor as it sounds, O’Connor struggling to get on any clear possession, McDonald frustrated with his lot too. Simon Donoghue then hit a sweet point from distance, McDonald scored his second, before they got their first real break.
McDonald was hauled down by Gearoid McInerney on 34 minutes, the penalty suitably awarded. Up came goalkeeper Mark Fanning only his shot went the wrong side of the crossbar, much to his obvious dismay.
Galway’s tally of 10 wides in that period alone was an obvious indication of how much further they should have been ahead. Galway left with some scars too, Conor Whelan, who had scored three from play, limping off 10 minutes from time, his hamstring set to sideline him for several weeks. Joseph Cooney and Monaghan were excellent at midfield, 0-6 from play between them, still the failure to make so much superiority count ensured Shefflin’s twitchy drive home.
“When we were coming down this morning we wanted to win obviously, but we didn’t want to lose either, we probably ended up in the middle. So from the half-time position playing with a bit of a slight breeze in the second half, we probably didn’t finish that well. Look, it’s game one of five and the destiny is still in our hands.”
Wexford: M Fanning (0-1, penalty); S Donohoe (0-1), L Ryan, M O'Hanlon; P Foley, D Reck, C Flood (0-1); K Foley, D O'Keeffe; L Og McGovern, O Foley (0-2), C McGuckin; R O'Connor (0-6, five frees), C McDonald (1-2), M Dwyer.
Subs: C Dunbarr (0-1) for Dwyer (45 mins), L Chin (0-5, three frees, one 65m) for Foley (48 mins), J O'Connor for McGuckin (52 mins), O Pepper for Foley (67 mins)
Galway: E Murphy; J Grealish, Dáithí Burke (capt), D Morrissey (0-1); P Mannion, G McInerney, F Burke; J Cooney (0-2), T Monaghan (0-4); E Niland, C Cooney (0-7, four frees, two 65m), C Fahy; C Whelan (0-3), B Concannon (1-1), C Mannion (0-1).
Subs: G Lee for Niland (54 mins), K Cooney for Fahy (66 mins), David Burke for Whelan (60 mins, inj), J Coen for Burke (75 mins).
Referee: Thomas Walsh (Waterford)
