Galway have fire-power but it won’t be enough to stop Kilkenny at Croke Park tomorrow

TOMORROW’S LEINSTER final is the pairing that was envisaged when the expanded provincial championship was created. The purpose was partly to suit Galway, even though they thought long and hard about it, and partly, I’d imagine, to revive competitiveness in the province and make it a bit harder for Kilkenny to skate into All-Ireland semi-finals.

Other than in the first half last week in Portlaoise, Galway haven’t hurled in three championship matches like they did in the league final against Cork. Selection, which had begun to take on a consistency, has now become more difficult for John McIntyre and his management.

Joe Canning isn’t the clear, exclusive choice at full forward you would have assumed during the league campaign. That’s mainly down to Damien Hayes’ performance there last week, although I expect to see him on Noel Hickey. If they are to be contenders you’d like to see David Collins back in a defence that looked solid by the end of the league but has, in the last two weeks, conceded five goals to Offaly.

Ger Farragher has been playing well at midfield, hitting a lot of good ball and being excellent from placed balls (the decision to put him on the frees and save Canning from having to wander out to take them has been positive).

He needs a foil who is energetic and able to travel, so the suspension of David Burke is a loss – not as big a loss as Collins if he’s not fit, but still a worry.

When the counties played last year in Tullamore Joe Canning certainly unnerved JJ Delaney and Michael Kavanagh and gave a first hint of encouragement to other full forwards lining up against Kilkenny. It’s hard to see Galway winning without Canning giving nearly a man-of-the-match performance, because Damien Hayes apart, the other four forwards haven’t shown a great propensity to score.

On the positive side you could argue Wexford and Offaly are both awkward opponents they were expected to beat comfortably, whereas the psychology of this game is much easier for them and the ingredients are there to put in a better performance than their recent showings.

The question is “how much better?” because it needs to be a lot better. The defence has been more physical but it’s also been around for a long time. If you hold Canning and Hayes in attack, you’re a long way down the road to stopping them scoring.

Having doubted that Kilkenny’s mediocre league form could have been intentional, I’ve started to come around to the view that maybe they just weren’t that pushed about it and that Brian Cody has planned a short, sharp burst for five rather than going flat out from the Walsh Cup in January.

There’s no way of being definite about them after the semi-final. They were unchallenged, hit a lot of wides and looked anxious.

The hope before was Dublin would provide a good test but you knew after about 30 seconds when Eddie Brennan scored the goal the game was up.

Despite that there is the simple fact of the overwhelming talent they have – Tommy Walsh, Jackie Tyrrell, JJ Delaney, Michael Rice, who is now becoming a serious player, and that’s without mentioning Henry Shefflin.

The league form of proven forwards like Aidan Fogarty and Eoin Larkin might have concerned Cody but he was able to stick them on the bench. What will worry him is they came on to replace Richie Hogan and TJ Reid, because he’ll need more than a part-time contribution from them in the weeks ahead.

Eddie Brennan was over-anxious, going for goals, and Richie Power scored a brilliant goal but needs to deliver on his potential on a more consistent basis. Shefflin played well within himself but his work-rate and willingness to go where top forwards generally don’t is as noticeable as his record scoring.

Can Galway score enough? The Kilkenny defence looked very good against Dublin, except one moment when Liam Rushe turned Noel Hickey and ran down the end line. Joe Canning is going to finish from there. Hickey didn’t get a test so we don’t know how his comeback is progressing, but his return has freed up JJ Delaney to his best position.

Kilkenny also conceded four close-in frees against Dublin, a problem they have to address as Galway provide a real danger of goals. Joe Canning got one last year in Tullamore but surprisingly didn’t go for another two opportunities. He’ll need to tomorrow because goals are going to be critical for Galway.

Ultimately, though, I can’t see beyond Kilkenny, which is a change in my thinking from six weeks ago.

In Thurles this afternoon Tipperary take the first step in rehabilitating after the scale of the Cork defeat. Wexford was the toughest qualifier draw but there’s a huge difference between Semple Stadium and Wexford Park.

I had hoped not to see as many unforced changes on the team because Tipp have had consistent selections in the past couple of years and this is no time to be starting again, even though the performance was so poor up the middle. Even with the doubts over form I’d have kept Pádraic Maher at full back, as I don’t blame him for the entirety of what happened with Aisake Ó hAilpín in Cork.

Wexford got stuck in against Galway but the suspension of Diarmuid Lyng removes their main scoring threat and I can’t see them compensating for that.