Galway 5-19 Westmeath 4-12:THE OUTCOME was never an issue but the manner in which the Galway defence haemorrhaged goals during the second half of yesterday's quarter-final is going to make for some rather painful analysis for several players when manager Anthony Cunningham sits down to review the match.
There might have been an element of complacency because with 17 minutes left to go, Galway led by 14 points, but it doesn’t fully explain the visitors’ vulnerability to the high ball. Westmeath stuck Brendan Murtagh onto the edge of the square and he caused problems for Kevin Hynes and the rest of the Galway full back line.
The excellent Niall O’Brien, who racked up 2-7, was a principal beneficiary; a reward for his intelligent appreciation in snaffling breaking ball and a sharpness in translating opportunities into goals.
It will have sent the home supporters in a small crowd at Cusack Park home in good fettle, something that didn’t appear likely for two thirds of the afternoon.
Joe Canning may have been named in the Galway team but Cunningham, on medical advice, decided that his shoulder ligament injury suffered in a training match had improved but that it wasn’t worth risking him in the fixture.
Conor Cooney deputised and indeed was the game’s only scorer from play in the opening 20 minutes, including one beautifully struck point from close to the touchline. Centre forward Niall Burke punished the home side pretty much every time one of his team-mates drew a foul, benefiting also from the assistance of a strong wind.
Westmeath packed their defence, withdrawing corner forward Eoin Price to act as a sweeper around midfield, and trying to condense the space available to the Galway forwards. It worked, after a fashion for a time, but unfortunately for the home side there wasn’t much respite up the other end of the pitch; the sliothar kept coming back in.
O’Brien, a minor, pointed three frees and Murtagh tagged on a point by the interval but by that stage Galway has mustered 1-12, a tally that included a beautifully taken goal from substitute James Regan who came on for Davy Glennon on 21 minutes. The visitors began to pick their passes, change angles and drive forward with purpose.
They received a perfect tonic at the start of the second half when Damien Hayes delivered a precise ball into David Burke, who controlled the ball instantly on his hurl before firing powerfully to the net. David Burke had moved from midfield to the half forward line and it was a lucrative switch because he ended up scoring 2-1 from play.
Hayes had a relatively quiet afternoon but his touches and movement were generally both eye-catching and productive.
Trailing 2-12 to 0-4, for Westmeath the spectacle threatened to take on a gory hue but the home side refused to buckle. O’Brien grabbed a brace of points from frees and then midfielder Joe Clarke timed his run perfectly to avail of Robbie Greville’s pass and score a goal from close range.
Galway scored three goals between the 46th and 51st minutes and might have managed more but for a fine display Shane McGovern in the Westmeath goal. O’Brien scored his first goal during this period and the home side, inspired by their industrious captain Paddy Dowdall and another impressive minor in Robbie Greville kept ploughing forward.
Price, now playing in midfield, and Paddy Greville posted two superb long-range points, Murtagh goaled from a penalty and O’Brien added his second goal. The problem for the home side was that Galway scored often enough to keep them tantalisingly out of range; one or two of their goals coming from some dithering in the Westmeath defence.
At the other end of the pitch though Galway showed an alarming frailty to what should have been routine high ball lofted towards the square, more in hope than expectation.
There appeared to be a lack of communication at times with a couple of defenders contesting the same ball. Cunningham admitted: “High ball is something we are going to have to work on. There’s not point in getting carried away. The big score is a positive and did well for quite a while but took our eye off the ball then as well.”
A repeat performance against Offaly in a fortnight’s time will exact a heavier toll in terms of their championship aspirations.
For Westmeath the progress that’s been accomplished under manager Brian Hanley is appreciable in the quality of their hurling and despite the scoreline there are plenty of positives to draw on the next day.
GALWAY: F Flannery; N Donoghue, K Hynes, F Moore (capt); P Gordon, T Óg Regan, J Coen; I Tannian (0-2), D Burke (2-1); A Smith (1-1), N Burke (0-8, six frees, two 65s), C Donnellan (1-1); D Hayes (0-2), C Cooney (0-2), D Glennon. Subs: J Regan (1-2) for Glennon (21 mins), J Glynn for Cooney (49 mins), B Flaherty for Gordon (52 mins), R Cummins for Donnellan (60 mins), P Brehony for N Burke (69 mins).
WESTMEATH: S McGovern; C Jordan, A Price, P Fennell; P Dowdall (capt), A McGrath, P Greville (0-1), A Clarke, J Clarke (1-0); B Murtagh (1-1), F Boyle, R Greville; N O’Brien (2-7, seven frees), J Shaw (0-1), E Price (0-1). Subs: J Gilligan for Boyle (half-time), D Fennell (0-1) for J Clarke (60 mins), T Gallagher for Jordan (62 mins).
Referee: J Ryan (Tipperary).
