Galway come from 12 points down to secure Leinster final spot with Dublin draw

Emma Duffy Reports from Croke Park.

Dublin 2-22

Galway 1-25

THIS WAS THE definition of a game of two halves, with Galway and Dublin finishing all square in the final round of the Leinster senior hurling championship at Croke Park.

But it’s the Tribesmen who advance to face Kilkenny in this year’s Leinster final.

Henry Shefflin’s side overturned a 10-point half-time deficit — and 12-point slippage shortly after — to rescue a draw and seal their provincial final spot, Daithí Burke’s 57th-minute goal key.

Evan Niland (0-10, 7f) and Joseph Cooney’s (0-5) scoring power was crucial, while the Galway bench made their impact felt through a huge second-half fightback

Donal Burke starred for Dublin with 0-10 (1 ’65, 6f), with Cian O’Sullivan and Danny Sutcliffe bagging first-half goals for Michéal Donoghue’s side.

The drama went right down to the wire at a sun-kissed but quiet Croker, Niland and Burke exchanging 75th-minute frees to share the spoils.

Dublin started brightest and capitalised on their fast start by raising their first green flag in the ninth minute. O’Sullivan fortuitously lobbed Éanna Burke to make it 1-4 to 0-4. Galway opened the half with wayward shooting, while Dublin’s main man Burke, who finished an excellent opening period with 0-6 (3f, 1 ’45), got his side off the mark.

Joseph Cooney was Galway’s main scoring outlet early on, before Niland began to find his range. But it was a really poor first half from Galway overall, Shefflin’s men well off the pace.

Dublin, on the other hand, brought intensity, hunger and fight, and made their dominance show on the scoreboard.

donal-burke-scores-a-point Donal Burke was superb for the Dubs. Ben Brady / INPHO Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO

They led by 10 points at the break with nine different players contributing on that front, their range and variation striking as they used the slight breeze to their advantage. They could have had one more, only for the unavailability of HawkEye data ruling out another O’Sullivan effort.

Eoghan O’Donnell was excellent in a more advanced role, chipping in with 0-2, while Danny Sutcliffe bagged Dublin’s second goal in the 27th minute. This was a real gift from Galway, the St Jude’s man pouncing on a loose TJ Brennan pass across goal to move Dublin into a 10-point lead — 2-12 to 0-8.

They held that at the midpoint (2-16 to 0-12), as Burke and Cian Boland finished strong before the posts. The same duo got the Dubs up and running on the restart, Burke firing over from play after missing two frees to put his side into their biggest lead: 12 points.

Burke’s battle with Gearóid McInerney was a fascinating one throughout, while Man of the Match Daithí Burke grew into the game as it went on. Conor Whelan, meanwhile, was well shackled.

Galway began chipping away at the deficit, but spurned a golden opportunity in the 47th minute. Substitute Brian Concannon was awarded a penalty, Conor Cooney stepped up and Seán Brennan produced a superb save to keep the scoreline 2-19 to 0-15.

Daithí Burke closes the gap to five with a brilliant goal for Galway. pic.twitter.com/WKPpCxUaSV
— The GAA (@officialgaa) May 28, 2023

Four minutes later, Burke made no mistake in finding the back of the net after great work from another sub, Jason Flynn. That made it 2-19 to 1-17, Galway hitting an unanswered 1-5 with Niland largely pointing the way.

While Burke did his utmost to stem Galway’s flow, the Tribe outscored their opponents 0-9 to 0-3 from the 55th minute onwards.

A free from goalkeeper Éanna Murphy brought them level for the first time in the 69th minute — 2-20 to 1-23 — paving the way for that nail-biting finish.

Dublin now head for the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final against Carlow, while Shefflin and co. face the Cats for early summer silverware.

Scorers for Dublin: Donal Burke 0-10 (1 ’65, 6f), Danny Sutcliffe 1-2, Cian O’Sullivan 1-1, Cian Boland 0-3, Eoghan O’Donnell 0-2, Daire Gray, Conor Donohue, Conor Burke, Mark Grogan all 0-1.

Scorers for Galway: Evan Niland 0-10 (7f), Joseph Cooney 0-5, Kevin Cooney and Tom Monaghan both 0-3, Daithi Burke 1-0, Ronan Glennon, Fintan Burke, Eanna Murphy (1f) Jason Flynn all 0-1.

Dublin

1. Seán Brennan (Cuala)

2. Paddy Doyle (Naomh Barróg), 3. Eoghan O’Donnell (Whitehall Colmcille — captain), 4. Paddy Smyth (Clontarf)

5. Conor Donohue (Erin’s Isle), 6. Conor Burke (St. Vincent’s), 7. Daire Gray (Whitehall Colmcille)

8. Mark Gorgan (Kilmacud Croke), 9. Chris O’Leary (Lucan Sarsfields)

10. Danny Sutcliffe (St. Jude’s), 11. Donal Burke (Na Fianna), 12. Cian Boland (St Oliver Plunkett Eoghan Ruadh)

13. Seán Currie (Na Fianna), 14. Cian O’Sullivan (St Brigid’s), 17. John Bellew (Lucan Sarsfields)

Subs

22. Alex Considine (Kilnmacud Crokes) for Chris O’Leary (57)
24. Dara Purcell (Kilmacud Crokes) for Cian O’Sullivan (64)
15. Paul Crummey (Lucan Sarsfields) for Cian Boland (67)
18. James Madden (Ballyboden St Endas) for Conor Donohoe (68)
23. Fergal Hartley (Kilmacud Crokes) for Mark Grogan (74)

Galway

1. Éanna Murphy (Tommy Larkins)

17. TJ Brennan (Clarinbridge), 3. Gearóid McInerney (Oranmore/Maree), 4. Darren Morrissey (Sarsfields)

5. Padraic Mannion (Ahascragh/Fohenagh), 6. Daithi Burke (Turloughmore — captain), 7. Fintan Burke (St Thomas’)

8. Joseph Cooney (Sarsfields), 9. Tom Monaghan (Craughwell)

10. Ronan Glennon (Mullagh), 11. Evan Niland (Clarinbridge), 12. Conor Cooney (St Thomas’)

13. Kevin Cooney (Sarsfields), 14. Conor Whelan (Kinvara), 15. Declan McLoughlin (Portumna)