IT’S just as well that Galway hurlers are squaring up to champions Limerick at Croke Park on Saturday evening (6pm) in a semi-final rather than a final.

Remarkably, the Shannonsiders have won all twelve finals – four All-Ireland, five Munster and three National League – that they have contested under manager John Kiely.

That is phenomenal big-day consistency by any standards and underlines the scale of Galway’s challenge at GAA headquarters in trying to halt Limerick’s drive for a fourth consecutive All-Ireland triumph.

Galway may have been the victims in only one of those deciders – the 2018 All-Ireland Final – but they have haven’t been spared from Limerick’s ability to come out on the right side of tight tussles, losing the semi-finals of both 2020 and last year by narrow three-point margins.

Yet, there is hope to be garnered from those two outings. Limerick were at the peak of their powers three years ago and still Galway were in the hunt as the match drifted into injury time, while last July the teams were deadlocked after 66 minutes despite the Tribesmen ending up with a crippling total of 19 wides.

Late points from David Reidy (2) and Diarmuid Byrnes got Limerick over the line but only after being pushed to the wire by a fiercely determined opposition which had left everything out on the field. Once again, however, the champions held their nerve in another close encounter.

It’s become a trademark of Limerick now. Look at this year’s Munster campaign for instance. They could have been beaten in every match they played. Instead, they edged out Waterford by two points, defeated Cork by one, drew with Tipp and lost to Clare by one in the round-robin series before gaining revenge on the Banner men in the provincial final.

Again, there was only the minimum between the teams and Clare were denied a blatant free to send the decider into extra time. Weighing up their campaign to date, Limerick have been stuttering along – a bit like the Kerry and Dublin footballers and look what happened when they both reached All-Ireland semi-final time.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.

Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App

Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.

Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.

Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite  HERE.

Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.