Galway 2-19 Offaly 0-19
Henry Shefflin said he was pleased with his first match in charge of Galway as the Tribesmen struck a goal in each half to win this entertaining Walsh Cup clash in Ballinasloe.
Shefflin admitted it was unusual to see his old Ballyhale Shamrocks and Kilkenny teammate Michael Fennelly in the opposing dugout, and felt both of them got a lot out of this early season opener which was played in front of a limited capacity of 3,000, with tickets selling out on Friday.
“I’m not surprised, it has got nothing to do with me, I think it is Galway hurling, that is what it stands for,” said Shefflin. “Since myself and Richie (O’Neill) have arrived up here it has been very positive. I have always come up against Galway hurling and knew it was a proud hurling county. The welcome myself and Richie, the management team, and players have received since it has started has been so positive. It has been very, very warm.”
Both sides fielded experimental sides and it was a good workout for Shefflin and Fennelly, now heading into his third year in charge of Offaly.
The sides were level three times during a lively opening quarter with points from impressive Ronan Glennon and Conor Walsh helping Galway lead by 0-7 to 0-5 at the first water break.
Eoghan Cahill landed three points from play for Offaly in that opening quarter with John Murphy and wingback Conor Molloy also hitting the target.
Galway lost experienced centreforward Jason Flynn to a hamstring injury with Donal O’Shea, son of former Tipper manager Eamon and the first from the Salthill/Knocknacarra junior club to play senior hurling for Galway, taking over the free-taking duties and he landed four from four before the break.
Galway led by 1-12 to 0-13 at the interval with eight players finding the target including debutant midfielder Glennon, younger brother of all-Ireland winner Davy who is now with Westmeath, while Brian Concannon struck for the only goal of the half when he rifled a first-time effort to the net just before the interval.
That pushed Galway four points clear for the second time in the game but the Offaly response was good. Brian Duignan, son of chairman Michael, became the seventh player to score while Cahill took his opening half haul to 0-7, five of them from play, to cut the gap to two at the break.
Scores were a bit harder to come by in the third quarter, with new Galway full-back Jack Fitzpatrick impressing, but Cahill’s accuracy helped Offaly draw level at 1-14 to 0-17 after 51 minutes before two more efforts from O’Shea edged Galway in front.
Another Cahill free cut the gap to the minimum going into the final quarter but Galway took over from there as both sides emptied their benches.
O’Shea pounced for Galway’s second goal 15 minutes from the end and with goalkeeper Darach Fahy producing a superb save to deny Aidan Treacy, there was no way back for Offaly.
Galway: D Fahy; S Barrett, J Fitzpatrick, D Cronin; S Bleahene (0-1), G McInerney, C Walsh (0-1); R Glennon (0-3), R Murphy (0-1); J Fleming, J Flynn (0-2, 0-1 free), C Fahy (0-1); G Thomas (0-1), B Concannon (1-0), D O'Shea (1-9, 0-7 frees, 0-1 '65).
Subs: A Clarke for Flynn (9 mins), G Lee for Fleming (51 mins), D Kilcommons for Murphy (57 mins), S Neary for Glennon (63 mins), T Killeen for Blehane (65 mins), C Killeen for Barrett (65 mins).
Offaly: S Corcoran; J Keenaghan, C Burke, D King; C Molloy (0-1), B Conneely, K Sampson; R Ravenhill (0-1), L Fox (0-1); E Cahill (0-11, 0-5 frees), J Sampson (0-1), A Cleary; J Murphy (0-1), B Duignan (0-1), D Nally.
Subs: P Guinan for Conneely (half-time), A Treacy (0-2, 0-1 free) for Fox (half-time), Eoghan Parlon for Cleary (51 mins), Luke Nolan for Duignan (51 mins), C Hardiman for K Sampson (53 mins), S Ryan for Nally (53 mins), C Kiely for J Sampson (53 mins), A Maher for Cahill (61 mins), P Delaney for King (63 mins), C O’Meara for Hardiman (67 mins).
Referee: Chris Mooney (Dublin).
Wexford 1-27 Laois 1-16
The first game of the post Davy Fitzgerald era of Wexford hurling got off to a winning start in Rathdowney as Darragh Egan began his reign with an 11-point win over Laois.
The Tipperary native replaced Fitzgerald in the offseason and though Stephen ‘Picky’ Maher struck for an early goal, Wexford were dominant in the opening quarter and were 0-9 to 1-1 up at the first water break, even allowing for a missed penalty from Mark Fanning and eight wides.
Though Laois improved with scores from Ryan Mullaney and Stephen Bergin and a host of frees from Maher, Billy Dunne, Rory O’Connor and Cathal Dunbar were prominent for Wexford in the second quarter and they took a 0-13 to 1-7 lead into half time.
The crucial score came in the 47th minute when Rory Lawlor pounced to finish to the net and they were 1-20 to 1-11 up at the second water break.
Laois battled on bravely to the final whistle but couldn’t close the gap and Wexford had 11 points to spare at the final whistle.
Laois now play Kilkenny in the group next Sunday with Wexford facing Kilkenny the following weekend.
Wexford: M Fanning; N Murphy, S Donohue, C Devitt; C Flood, P Foley (0-2, 1 free), K Foley (0-2); J O'Connor, C Dunbar (0-3,); O Foley (0-1), R O'Connor (0-3), C McDonald (0-2); R Lawlor (1-0), O Pepper, B Dunne (0-6, 4f).
Subs: C Byrne, C Hearne, L Og McGovern (0-1), P Morris (0-1), M O’Hanlon, B Edwards, H Kehoe (0-1), A Doyle, C Clancy (0-1), D Carley, R Banville (0-4, 3 frees, 1 ‘65).
Laois: E Rowland; D Hartnett, S Downey, F Flanagan; P Delaney, L O'Connell, R Mullaney (0-1); A Corby, F C-Fennell (0-1); C Comerford, B Conroy (0-1), M Dowling; S Bergin (0-1), S Maher (1-8, 0-8f), C Byrne.
Subs: C Dunne, D Conway, J Kelly (0-1), C Phelan, R King (0-3), J Walshe, C Conroy, S Fitzpatrick, E Killeen, P Dunne.
Referee: P Murphy (Carlow).
Dublin 2-27 Antrim 1-21
Paddy Smyth may have worn the armband for Dublin’s season opener but Eoghan O’Donnell will be the team’s new captain for 2022.
Manager Mattie Kenny confirmed the news after what he termed a useful runout as they came from eight points down early on to beat Antrim by nine in the Walsh Cup.
O’Donnell was among a group of experienced players who didn’t feature and with new vice-captain Cian O’Callaghan also absent, it fell to Smyth to lead the Sky Blues.
The Clontarf man did a good job because while Dublin fell into fast-starting Antrim’s slipstream early on, conceding 1-7 without reply to trail by 1-8 to 0-3 after 15 minutes, they quickly made amends.
Cian O’Sullivan’s stoppage time goal left Dublin 1-13 to 1-11 up at half-time and they sped from there to a big win, top scorer Colin Currie netting early in the second-half.
Kenny looked at 23 players in total and with ‘various little knocks and things’ sidelining many of their regulars, opportunity knocked for players like Luke Walsh and John Bellew in the backs.
Most impressive of the fringe performers was Currie, a county finalist in 2021 with Na Fianna, who seized his chance by striking 1-13 in total, 0-9 of which came from placed balls.
Ballyboden’s Aidan Mellett did his chances of regular inclusion no harm either with a stylish display in attack, scoring a point and supplying a series of sumptuous deliveries for the likes of Currie and Ronan Smith to score.
Antrim manager Darren Gleeson said the Saffrons ‘emptied’ themselves early on but expressed satisfaction with the runout, praising goalkeeper Paul McMullan who pulled off several top drawer saves on his debut.
Antrim were beaten twice by Dublin in 2021, in the league and championship, and couldn’t reverse that trend despite strong form from Ciaran Clarke, Conor Johnston and Niall McKenna.
Dublin: S Brennan; J Bellew, P Smyth, L Walsh; R Smith (0-1), D Gray, J Madden; C Burke, C Crummey (0-3); A Mellett (0-1), R McBride (0-5), C O'Sullivan (1-1); C Currie (1-13, 0-8 frees, 0-1 '65), S Currie, J Hetherton (0-2).
Subs: R Hayes for O’Sullivan (half-time), D Keogh for S Currie, D Burke for Hetherton (both 49 mins), T Connolly for Smith (54 mins), E Dillon (0-1) for Mellett, S Barrett for Gray, K Burke for Walsh (all 56 mins), D Power for C Burke (60 mins).
Antrim: P McMullan; A Crawford, M Donnelly, G Walsh; S Walsh, E Campbell (0-2, 0-1 free), J Maskey; S Shannon, M Bradley (0-1); N McKenna (0-4), C Johnston (0-4), C Bohill (0-1); D Murphy (1-1, 0-1 free), N McManus (0-1), C Clarke (0-6, 0-5 free, 0-1 '65).
Subs: D McKernan (0-1) for Shannon (half-time), R McCambridge for S Walsh, R McGarry for Maskey, P Burke for M Bradley (all 49 mins), S Elliott for Clarke, A Bradley for Bohill (both 54 mins), K Molloy for McManus (60 mins), S Rooney for G Walsh (69 mins).
Referee: D Hughes (Kilkenny).
