Galway v Kilkenny

[Carmen Stateside]

I hope the Roscommon football team have been sat down and made watch this game to see what it takes in Championship!

[Carmen Stateside]

Level some finish in store.  KK seem to be getting the scores that bit easier.

[Gnevin]

Galway falling off . Legs look to be gone.

[Gnevin]

Galway down to 14. Can't see a way back now.

[Tony Baloney]

Destroyed them in last ten minutes.

[Bord na Mona man]

Galway lost their composure there.
Kilkenny were there for the taking.
Lots of silly things cost them, bad short puckouts, handpasses to no one, silly fouls and Murray's wild pull.

They get very little quality ball into Joe Canning and probably should have brought him out the field well before the end.
With so many Kilkenny defenders on yellow cards they should have run at them more inside the '45 and drawn fouls.
Kilkenny's defending against the runner was poor and there could be a lack of pace in their backline worth exploiting.
What you don't do is lob aimless ball on the Kilkenny backs where they can use their strength and repertoire of dark arts under the dropping ball.
A few of Galway's passengers didn't pay their fares though.
Who was supposed to be marking Eoin Larkin when he hit a string of points in succession?

[slow corner back]

Now that was a serious game of hurling there. The cats do sail close to the wind sometimes, Eddie Brennan and Tommy Walsh were both very close to second yellows. Ritchie Murrays red was fully deserved desperate stroke minimum three months. JJ is not a full back and struggled all game with Canning although he is not the first full back to struggle with him. Galway did well around the middle of the field and the tackling of the entire Galway team was ferocious. Derek Lyng started to pick up some handy balls when he came on and made a difference as he used the ball superbly. Shefflin was good all through for the cats and Eoin larkin was superb in the second half, Aidan fogarty took some nice points too.
Overall KK will be glad to have pulled through a tight one without four influential players, Galway when they reflect on it will know that if they play like that against most sides they will win and win well. Still a few problems to sort out for Galway but not too many. That match was by some distance the most intense match in the championship so far.

[GalwayBayBoy]

Disappointing result because we undoubtably had Kilkenny on the rack for long periods but they showed the composure of champions during the final 15 minutes when most teams would have panicked. Their shooting during that closing period was exceptional. They were putting points over from all angles. Eoin Larkin especially seemed to find space too easily to pop over scores. I'm loathe to criticise Galway's puck out strategy as it clearly worked for most of the game as Callanan was picking out Galway players on the wings and in midfield rather than launching high balls down onto the Kilkenny half-back line. However near the end when players were maybe a bit tired they were fumbling puck-outs which led to cheap Kilkenny scores. Galway themselves had a few chances to keep themselves ahead but hit some bad wides as Kilkenny were slowly pulling them back.

Joe Canning again was superb even carrying his stomach injury. Galway just couldn't quite get enough quality ball into him and maybe there was a case to bring him out the field for the final 10 minutes. Galway will need a few more scores from their other forwards though going forward.

All in all a disappointment but if Galway keep up that level of performance they could well be around at the business end of the Summer yet. Kilkenny march on. They will take some beating to say the least.

[cavanmaniac]

I don't pay many visits to the hurling board but wanted to say how much I enjoyed that game tonight. Mighty bit of skelping in it, it's great to see the Kilkenny cat finally having to uncurl from in front of the fire and stretch, yawn and extend itself before August! Ironic that Galway had the man sent off in the end, there was some borderline/second yellow stuff from Walsh and Brennan especially but Murray can have absolutely no complaints.

Galway missed a great chance IMO. They hurled with a fury and passion that was heartening to watch but to my mind, it wasn't always a controlled passion and fury. Handpasses to the invisible man, hurried offloads to nobody, a bad puckout after KK had just taken the lead to allow them go two ahead and some shanked shots at vital junctures (the type of which, and tougher, Kilkenny made no mistake with late in the game) - it's a harsh enough analysis given where they're coming from, who they were playing and how well they did overall, but these are the fine margins you have to be on the right side of if you're hoping to topple the Cats.

It should encourage Galway but the caveat is, which team has the capacity to improve the most from here and unfortunately for Galway and the other teams, I think it's Kilkenny with the personnel they have to come back. Still, it's shaping up to be a proper All-Ireland championship this year though, sure there miust be something strange afoot if it's even stirring us up in Cavan anyway.

[Caid]

As per Cavanmaniac, this is a rare trip for myself to the hurling thread. But twas a fine game. Galway were prob the better team for most of the match, but KK had the guile, the class, the je nais se quai that champions have.  A great team that won without appearign to play exceptionally well (although they did)

[Reillers]

So infuriating. Galway were so, so close. Kilkenny got incredibly lucky, Walsh deserved to go, but yet again a ref failed to give a Kilkenny man the red. Galway made stupid sloppy mistakes at times and that's what cost them. They weren't out classed, they weren't outplayed, Kilkenny didn't have a bad day. Galway came so close to, and should have really, beaten Kilkenny, minus a man, and with Canning who yet again was truely amazing, not fully fit.

Pity, really thought they'd go on and win. But Galway's legs went in the end and Kilkenny's experience held out.

[Reillers]

What about this one Reillers?

Kilkenny          were           very            good.

Is it that difficult to type?

A little slow are we, new to the typing? It was an incredibly good match, both sides were very good..you're point being?

[monny14]

Kilkenny are floocky,dirty and have the referees on their side.Tommy Walsh is the dirtiest player ever to play in the gaa,Barry Kelly worst referee ever.he might aswell have got off the kilkenny bus.gud signs for galway,keep it up and we'll be in Dublin in September.GAILLIMH ABU

[Minder]

What about this one Reillers?

Kilkenny          were           very            good.

Is it that difficult to type?

A little slow are we, new to the typing? It was an incredibly good match, both sides were very good..you're point being?

I think what Hardstation is getting at is you are loathe to give Kilkenny any credit

[Reillers]

What about this one Reillers?

Kilkenny          were           very            good.

Is it that difficult to type?

A little slow are we, new to the typing? It was an incredibly good match, both sides were very good..you're point being?

I think what Hardstation is getting at is you are loathe to give Kilkenny any credit

No he's just being is special little self, it was an excellent game I've said that. But they were fortunate that Galway let them get back into the game, and the fact that Galway had a man, and rightly so, sent off, while Walsh should have walked but yet again Kilkenny get away with it, the ref didn't have the bottle to send of a KK player, not many do. It's like they are exempt from the rules, all the time, and everyone knows it.