All-Ireland MHC Final/ Tipperary 2-18 Galway 2-07: Hunger makes a huge difference when young teams meet in Croke Park but essentially it comes down to mastery of the basic skills. Galway were some distance adrift in this regard in yesterday's ESB All-Ireland minor hurling final.
Consequently Tipperary, without a minor crown since 1996, feasted on the carcass of Galway's three-in-a-row aspirations. It was a lesson in monopolising possession and a near perfect example of how to shut out a one-man team.
This was to be Joe Canning's regal departure from the underage arena. The Portumna teenager was expertly handled by Tipperary full back Padraig Maher, ably assisted by centre back Thomas Stapleton, although the supply line into Canning was abysmally poor.
Eight Tipperary wides in the first half left the door open for a nail-biting second half. Patrick Bourke's deceptive strike to the net after three minutes was all that separated the teams at half-time and only some courageous goalline defending denied Canning from two 21-yard frees just before the interval. Tipperary had two goal chances of their own as Seamus Hennessy hit the post before Niall Bergin angled the rebound narrowly wide.
Ger Hennelly scored a point in each half but no other Galway forward was able to shoulder the added responsibility.
Mattie Murphy has guided Galway to four All-Ireland finals in succession but he struggled to explain away the total collapse. "The better team won on the day. We were beaten in 12 or 13 positions," he said.
The excellent Bourke set the tone with his early short-range free, which seemed to unnerve Galway goalkeeper James Skehill thereafter. Still, Tipp made hard work of it with points from Timmy Dalton, Thomas McGrath and two from Bourke the only other profit. Canning's occasional accuracy from placed balls kept Galway in the slipstream.
Tipp manager Liam Sheedy can take credit for convincing his players they had the winning of the game as they exploded into life after the break. Bourke and Tony Dunne claimed points either side of a yellow card for an increasingly frustrated Canning.
Then came a 1-5 blitz in five minutes, the pick of these scores from McGrath, while Dalton capped a fine performance with the second goal.
Canning kept Galway aspirations alive by supplying substitute Enda Concannon with a sight of goal. A poor shot found the net after a wicked deflection off John O'Keeffe.
The reply was six unanswered points as Bourke and Dalton continued to do damage with Hennessy (from halfway) and Michael Gleeson chipping in to give the game an exhibition feel.
Canning broke another high ball to give Eoin Forde a second Galway goal but at 2-16 to 2-6 the contest was long over.
TIPPERARY: J Ryan; M Cahill, P Maher, B Maher; E Hogan, T Stapleton, J O'Keeffe; J McLoughney, G Ryan (0-1); S Hennessy (0-2), T McGrath (0-2), N Bergin; P Bourke (1-7, five frees), T Dunne (0-1), T Dalton (1-3). Subs: M Gleeson (0-2) for N Bergin (38 mins), S Callinan for T Dunne (51 mins).
GALWAY: J Skehill; J Ryan, M McMahon, A Moylan; D Burke, K Keane, S Quinn; E Forde (1-0), G Lally; A Harte, M Corcoran, L Tully; S Coen, J Canning (0-5, five frees), G Hennelly (0-2). Subs: E Concannon (1-0) for M Corcoran (28 mins), K Killilea for G Lally (half-time), K Keehan for S Coen (41 mins), G Burke for A Harte (43 mins), N Lynch for G Hennelly (54 mins).
Referee: D Connolly (Kilkenny).
