Galway         0-29

Dublin           3-15

HOLD your horses: maybe, the outcome of the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship isn’t a done deal after all.

For Galway are storming up the tracks, as underlined by this statement championship victory over Dublin – a first on opposition soil – at Parnell Park on Sunday in a de-facto Leinster semi-final.

Suddenly, the six-in-a-row chasing Kilkenny have been given something to think about as bar a ropey finale when they conceded two goals, this was probably Galway’s best summer display in a long time and justified in one swoop Micheál Donoghue’s decision to return west.

After routine and expected wins over Offaly, Wexford, and Antrim, this was the game which would finally reveal where Galway are currently at. And all the key markers were overwhelmingly positive. The Tribesmen are building up a head of steam at just the right time.

And though Cathal Mannion might have preferred a different scenario, the fact that Galway proved much too strong for bogey opposition without their talisman scoring from play shows how much his colleagues stepped up – none more so than team captain Conor Whelan, and a resurgent Brian Concannon.

With Tom Monaghan also in flying form on the forty, the long-serving David Burke outstanding in midfield, and half-backs Cianan Fahy and TJ Brennan enjoying some thunderous moments, Galway cut a dash in setting up another provincial final with the Cats at Croke Park on Sunday week.

A capacity attendance – at least in the eyes of health & safety – of over 8,200 turned up at the Donnycarney venue expecting a full-bloodied encounter, not least due to Donoghue’s change of loyalties in the intervening 12 months.

We got a stirring scrap alright, and there was no shortage of commitment from either side, but due to Galway’s near complete control of the second-half, there was no high-wire climax despite the winners’ defence getting sloppy over the closing minutes.

Yet, there was some post-match fallout over the benign officiating of Colm Lyons. On another day, Galway goalkeeper Darach Fahy (a swipe back on AJ Murphy) and Daithí Burke (a thundering shoulder into the chest of Conor Burke) would both have got the line.

But the biggest injustice of all was how Dublin midfielder Conor Donohue stayed on the field after a shocking swing across the head of John Fleming in the second-half. Maybe, the Cork official didn’t have a full view of all these incidents, but what were his linesmen and umpires looking at?

Caption: Galway defender TJ Brennan breaking out of defence against Dublin’s Brian Hayes during Sunday’s Leinster Senior Hurling Championship clash at Parnell Park. Photo: David Cuniffe.

Read the full report and analysis in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.