Galway 4-15 Waterford 1-15: THIS WAS a far cry from the smoking All-Ireland quarter-final defined by John Mullane's late, daring point last July but the small crowd who showed up at Pearse Stadium saw further signs that Galway are turning into a serious force.
The home team were powerful but this was an inexperienced Waterford team who might take some comfort from the surprising results posted elsewhere yesterday.
Galway had Waterford on the rack for most of the second half. At their best, they were aggressive, direct and physically imposing.
At their worst, they still lapse into the fatal habit of drifting through entire chunks of a match.
The size of the Galway team, from Shane Kavanagh and John Lee through to the impressive Iarla Tannian, was the most notable aspect of their performance here.
Whatever happens with this team over the year, it has unquestionably moved away from the small, light players who seemed to embody all of the delights and frustrations of maroon hurling over the past couple of decades.
Even without the precious bulk of Joe Canning on the field, this is a big, mobile hurling team. They hurt Waterford by raining ball down on the visiting back line and had a strong target man in Joe Gantley.
The Beagh man had the height and speed to impose himself on Liam Lawlor and as well as bagging four points for himself, he set up both Tannian and Harte for excellent goals in either half.
Tannian's second goal, on 48 minutes, effectively broke Waterford's resistance and its origins were cruel. Tannian, loping out on the right wing, went for a point but the ball fell short and Adrian Power, clearly blinded by the sunlight, allowed it to spill into his goal.
That made the score 3-11 to 1-10 and in the following minute, Galway pulled further ahead with a snappy point from Niall Cahalan and a real beauty from Tannian. It was a cruise to the last whistle for Galway and their impressive total was achieved with just two points from frees and a spell of some 23 minutes in the first half without a goal.
Plus, they might have had another late goal but Gantley opted to whip over a simple point rather than square a pass to Tannian, who was thundering through the Waterford square without a white shirt in sight.
"We needed to win this game very badly," reflected coach John McIntyre after signing a few autographs on the sideline and wondering why nobody had ever asked him to scribble his name in the days when he was a Tipperary player. "Because you were with the wrong county," responded a father of one of the young autographs hunters.
"We needed to exorcise the demons of last summer and there as no reason for Galway to hold anything back," McIntyre continued.
"We got a great start and didn't build on it and failed to score for 23 minutes in the first half, which at this level is criminal. At least half-time came at the right time for us because it allowed us to address what had gone wrong and in fairness, our players upped the ante in the second half.
"But then in the last 10 minutes, we only got one or two points. Maybe we switched off again. And that is a concern I would have. When we are on the ball we are not too bad but when we are not, we are inclined to wander a bit and we have to work on our concentration levels."
In the main, the signs were encouraging. Ger Farragher was highly effective at midfield, using his heft to boss that middle sector and although he retains the scorer's tendency to go for the killer point from distance, the service he provided to the inside forward line told as they began to run amok.
David Collins looked fit and revitalised as he resumes his career after a hellishly long period out with injury.
The Galway back lines played well individually but were caught out once or twice as a unit, allowing the battling Shane Walsh to sneak through for the 33rd-minute goal that was at the heart of their best spell.
Waterford hit Galway for 1-6 without reply in the 25 minutes leading up to half-time. Maurice Shanahan worked hard as well as providing deal ball duties, Richie Foley saw plenty of ball at midfield and Aidan Kearney and Michael Walsh stood up well in a Waterford defence that was under siege.
Reckless shooting - 11 wides in the first half alone - cost them dearly and as Fitzgerald pointed out afterwards, they allowed Galway take their momentum after the break, with Gantley, Farragher and Collins landing points that seemed to set the tone for the home team.
Until Stephen Molumphy's point in the 57th minute, only two Waterford forwards had managed to score. But it was the Galway goals that knocked them out of contention.
"They totally outclassed us and we will have to work very hard to see if we can catch up a small bit," Fitzgerald praised.
"I suppose two of the Galway goals were good and two were sloppy, from our point of view. But our boys kept trying. The ball wouldn't come up for them but they kept plugging away - I can't say anything against them. I really do think Galway are up there. And people say they are missing a rake of players but I can't see too many more coming into that squad."
Fitzgerald then smiled as if a comforting thought had suddenly occurred to him. "To be honest, boys, you don't win any championships in the month of February."
But that is no news in Galway or Waterford hurling circles.
GALWAY:C Callanan; F Moore, S Kavanagh, D Joyce; D Barry, T Óg Regan, D Collins (0-1); G Farragher (0-3, two frees), N Cahalan (0-2); A Callanan (0-1), C Donnellan, A Harte (1-1); I Tannian (2-2), J Gantley (0-4), N Healy (1-1). Subs:E Ryan for Healy (57 mins), K Hynes for Donnellan (65 mins), D Burke for Tannian (66 mins),
WATERFORD:A Power; A Kearney, L Lawlor, N Connors; D Prendergast, M Walsh, J Murray; J Nagle (0-1), R Foley (0-2); M Shanahan (0-9, 7 frees), K Moran, T Connors (0-1); S Walsh (1-1), G Hurney, S Molumphy (0-1). Subs:M Doherty for Prendergast (half-time), E McGrath for Murray (44 mins), E Whelan for Foley (51 mins), M O'Brien for Lawlor (57 mins), T Ryan for Moran (67 mins).
Referee:B Gavin (Offaly).
