GAELIC GAMES: AN INCIDENT-packed National Hurling League encounter at Nowlan Park was brought to a nerve-jangling conclusion as Kilkenny all but certainly bowed out this year after a third defeat of the campaign against Galway on a scoreline of 2-21 to 1-23.
The final 10 minutes of the match saw an injury to Galway goalkeeper James Skehill hold up proceedings by eight minutes before an ambulance took the Cappataggle player away. Initial reports suggest Skehill didn’t sustain a serious injury.
Full back Shane Kavanagh gave an eye-witness account of the accident.
“I was just coming back, he took the ball but he was unfortunate – he had his head down, Aidan Fogarty ran into him and he went out like a light – I’d say he was out for about 30 seconds.
“He did come around while he was still on the ground, and I’d like to thank the Kilkenny medical team, they were great. They were just taking precautions I think, he was talking before he left the field anyway – hopefully he’s okay.”
Galway pulled off a thrilling recovery after a moribund third quarter to take the result by a point. Replacement Iarla Tannian shot 2-1 in the last 10 minutes to secure a first win over Kilkenny since the All-Ireland semi-final of five years ago.
“Psychologically, to beat Kilkenny is a turning point and psychologically to do it in the manner that we did is a second turning point,” was the reaction of manager John McIntyre. “But of course all it does is put two league points on the board.”
The result sees Kilkenny’s chances of reaching the final fade to almost non-existent, as they require a combination of improbable results if they are to make this year’s final.
Manager Brian Cody was stoical about the setback.
“Galway deserved to win it. It wasn’t a great performance by us. We didn’t play particularly well, we lost a player and never really dominated the game. It’s not the end of the world. It’s one extra game if we go to the league final, that’s it.
“We approach every game with the intention of winning it. We have been beaten three times obviously, so we wouldn’t deserve to be in a league final.”
Cork, after a narrow win over Dublin, continue to lead the table, on nine points, with Galway and Tipperary in close pursuit on eight and seven respectively.
Limerick’s second-string team nearly pulled off a major shock when running Offaly to a single point, 3-13 to 2-17. The defeat leaves the county’s controversial season heading for relegation, but unless Dublin can take something from the next match against Galway, Anthony Daly’s team will find themselves in a winner-takes-all encounter with Limerick on the last day of the season. The primary determinant of who survives when points are level is the result between the two.
In football, Cork have qualified for the final, as with one round left it isn’t possible for both Mayo and Dublin to overtake them at the top of Division One.
The Munster champions secured a hard-fought win in Derry on Saturday night and their last opponents in the divisional matches are Mayo, who came from behind to defeat Monaghan, who along with Derry are in the firing line for relegation.
