Galway comprehensively outgunned Antrim in
this afternoon's All-Ireland first round qualifier at Casement
Park, giving the recently crowned Ulster champions a
serious lesson in championship hurling.Crowning his championship
debut, the prodigious Joe Canning grabbed two goals and Damien
Hayes, Alan Kerins and Kerril Wade (2) also found the Saffrons'
net as Ger Loughnane's men blasted ahead.Overcoming a poor
start, Antrim did well to get back level (0-10 to 1-07) thanks
to a Michael Magill goal and a clutch of Donal McNaughton
points.But, producing some stirring hurling from the 28th-minute
onwards, Galway cracked home two quick goals through Canning to
claim a 2-13 to 1-08 half-time lead. The second half was
completely one-sided and Antrim's challenge faltered further
with Michael McCambridge's dismissal. Late green flags from
Kerins and substitute Wade were hardly needed as Galway turned
their focus to next Saturday's second round tie with Laois,
while Antrim will have to bounce back quickly as they face
Waterford on the same day. In front of a crowd numbering 2,000,
Antrim and Galway were meeting in the S.H.C qualifiers for the
third time in four years. In those previous years Galway rattled
off winning tallies of 3-29 (2005) and 2-31 (2007) and despite a
ten-week break from competitive action, Loughnane's side still
looked set to test the -18 point handicap today. The Clare man
made six changes to the team he selected for April's NHL
Division 1 final defeat to Tipperary, with Canning, James
Skehill and Cyril Donnellan their only championship newcomers.
Antrim were boosted by key forward Paddy Richmond's recovery
from a dead leg and while they were without honeymooning captain
Sean Delargy, Michael Magill was available again after time out
with a calf injury. The Saffrons edged ahead in the opening
minutes but ominously, by the ninth-minute, Galway had flung
over six successive points - four of them from the 19-year-old
Canning. One of Canning's early scores could easily have been a
goal as a trademark blistering strike just cleared Ryan
McGarry's crossbar. Antrim bolstered their defence by dropping
corner forward Paul Shiels into their rearguard and that tactic
looked to be paying dividends as the hosts hung onto Galway's
coattails. Not deterred by hitting four early wides, the
Saffrons kept in contention with points from McNaughton, Karl
McKeegan and Michael Herron. Joint-managers Dominic McKinley and
Terence 'Sambo' McNaughton had good reason to be pleased with
their side's display up to the 28th-minute when Antrim got back
on terms, much to the home supporters' delight.But conceding
that series of scores, including Magill's well-taken goal,
seemed to spur Galway into action and the men from the west
found an extra gear in the minutes leading up to half-time. They
noticeably upped the tempo around centre-field and in their
attack - their passing was crisper and their running
off-the-ball top notch - with Canning, Alan Kerins, Iarla
Tannian and Damien Hayes all impressing. Canning was given an
ideal chance to reply to Magill's goal when he was presented
with a 20-metre free and he made no mistake with a thunderous
shot past McGarry and his defenders. The Portumna clubman was
denied by McGarry in open play just a few moments later but
points from Tannian and Fergal Healy made up for that missed
opportunity. Eddie McCloskey almost worked himself a
goal-scoring chance at the other end but Kerins did well to get
back and flick the ball away from him. Two minutes before the
break, Canning nestled an angled shot into the back of the
hosts' net, confidently taking his personal tally to 2-04. A
Karl Stewart point initiated a mini-response from Antrim but
corner back Damien Joyce, who roamed forward with his man Shiels
on defensive duty, had the last word of the opening half. Nine
Galway players had got on the scoresheet in the opening 35
minutes and with the rain beginning to teem down, the flood of
scoring continued in the second period. 11 minutes after the
restart, Galway were 3-17 to 1-08 to the good with an excellent
overhead pass from Canning teeing up Hayes for his goal. The
gulf in class became painfully evident as Galway galloped into
an unassailable lead. Although they kept plugging away, Antrim
were fighting a losing battle and McCambridge's sending-off for
striking, midway through the half, could not have come at a
worst time. Kerins and Wade slotted home their goals to
give a very sorry look to the scoreboard. On this evidence,
Galway are very real contenders for this year's All-Ireland
title but Loughnane knows full well that much bigger challenges
lie ahead. This result does nothing for Antrim or Ulster
hurling, or indeed the All-Ireland series. McKinley and
McNaughton will have to work miracles to keep Antrim's summer
alive as a wounded Waterford side, whose manager Davy Fitzgerald
was in attendance today, lie in wait.ANTRIM:
R McGarry; A Griffin, J McKeague, M Kettle; C Herron, K McKeegan
(0-02, 0-01f), J Campbell; K Stewart (0-02), M Magill (1-00); M
Herron (0-02), E McCloskey, D McNaughton (0-04, 0-04f); P
Richmond, C Donnelly, P Shiels.
Subs used: M McCanbridge for Kettle, P.J O'Connell
for D McNaughton, S McNaughton for Stewart, S McCrory for
Magill.
GALWAY: J Skehill; D Joyce (0-01), F Moore,
O Canning; S Kavanagh, J Lee, D Forde; A Cullinane (0-02), F
Healy (0-02); A Kerins (1-01), C Donnellan (0-03), I Tannian
(0-03); D Hayes (1-02), E Cloonan (0-01), J Canning (2-06,
1-02f).
Subs used: N Healy for Forde, A Callanan for
Tannian, K Wade (2-00) for Cloonan, C Callanan for Skehill, M
Kerins for Donnellan.
Referee: Johnny Ryan (Tipperary)
Action from Galway v Antrim in
Casement Park
