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Wins for Wexford, Galway and Monaghan, but 2016 All Ireland finalists Kilkenny and Mayo will survey the headlines wondering, where do we go from here? First up, Wexford.
Brian Cody’s assessment of why Wexford won was simple and to the point. They scored more than us he said. And although that’s true, Wexford turned up in front of their home crowd fired up and ready for war. The influence of Davy Fitzgerald clear to see, with some patient use of the ball and a fierce passion and intensity. Who would have thought, with midsummer still to come, Kilkenny and Tipperary would both be seeking the back door? With Wexford GAA on the up, Cork apparently resurgent and Galway promising a heady brew, the early summer vibe for hurling couldn’t be better. Party like its 2013 they suggested on the Sunday Game? B’fheidir.
Wexford talisman Lee Chin was simply outstanding. Whether it was pulling off outrageous catches to set up scores, or driving forward himself it was epic watching on a Saturday evening. And despite TJ Reid’s King Canute like heroics, singlehandedly almost trying to outscore old rivals, Wexford simply had too much on the evening. Padraig Walsh, Ger Aylward and Richie Hogan all removed before the end of the game told its own tale as Brian Cody shuffled his deck. But Wexford fully deserved their win.
Lee Chin: “I knew when we got hit with a couple of goals it was going to take a certain moment to really get everyone going again. Luckily Mark Fanning pucked the ball down my way and I caught it and put it over the bar. Another day it could have been somebody else, there's a lot of leaders in this team.”
Matthew O’Hanlon was more bullish in his assessment: “The last 10-15 years we’ve got some serious trimmings from them but we knew that we owed them and we still do. We haven’t won anything yet, we’re going up to a Leinster final up in Croke Park and it’s where we want to be.
Galway GAA finished yesterday’s Connacht semi final looking dead on their feet, having worked like dogs to keep 14 man Mayo at arm’s length. The first half sending off for Keith Higgins didn’t help the cause at all for Mayo. Unlike Kerry who seemed to reorganise and galvanise after going to fourteen men, Mayo struggled against an all action Galway outfit. Semi finals are for winning the cliché says, and that’s what the Tribesmen focused on. They may not have scored much in the last quarter and at times their decisions weren’t the best but Kevin Walsh will have been delighted with what he saw. There were a few hairy moments in around the goalmouth had Pearse stadium suffering collective heart failure.
Walsh was delighted and philosophical: “I’d be happy with the way we played. We take the two imposters the same, winning and losing, and tomorrow we’ll deal with it regardless. We’re happy with the win and the resilience shown there was huge against the wind.”
Damien Comer: "I was delighted, it was a grind, it just shows we can win those tight games people probably said we couldn’t win a few years ago. Look it, we are delighted with the result.
Meanwhile in the superb championship surroundings of Breffni Park, Cavan and Monaghan GAA went about their Ulster championship tie in the manner you would expect, trading blow for blow and tied the game nine times. That was until Conor McManus struck in the 59th minute. His movement for the goal was superb. You always want forwards to open the space that they need to use and he did that superbly drifting forward before turning back sharpish to lose his marker, step inside the onrushing cover and buried the ball.
Game over, or so it seemed until Ryan Connolly’s piledriver ricocheted back off the upright with the last kick of the game, He was inches from glory. It was a rip snorter all right, and over the last two weeks we’ve seen Ulster reputation rehabilitated somewhat, until the next day?
Mattie McGleenan clearly enjoyed his Championship debut as manager: “Both teams went at it, welcome to Ulster championship football, I loved every minute of it. The important thing is that this is not the end for Cavan, we can go into the qualifiers now and they can go as far as they want.
Malachy O’Rourke: “It was just a matter of keeping the heads and knowing the wind would be a help. It still doesn't kick the ball over the bar and I thought we rushed things are we booked but as the half or all we got the scores. There is no doubt the Goal gave us a wee bit of breathing space.”
Kerry survived the first half dismissal of Donnchadh Walsh to set up a Munster final date with Cork GAA by beating Clare GAA by six points. With James O’Donoghue in top form and Paul Geaney continuing to soothe the absence of one Gooch Cooper, Kerry are teeing themselves up well for the rest of the summer. Perhaps playing with fourteen gave themselves the squeaky discomfort they needed. Clare will kick themselves that they couldn’t take advantage but they’ve put themselves in a good place for the qualifiers. For Kerry GAA it was business as usual as Kieran Donaghy emerged from the bench to make his seasonal debut, as did Bryan Sheehan. They have a formidable panel. A long summer awaits.