Clare 0-22

Galway 1-24

Pádraic Ó Ciardha at Cusack Park

Should things go well for the Galway hurlers this summer, few are likely to look back and pick out this win in Cusack Park as a crucial point in the season, but there were some positive signs to take from the Sunday’s victory over Clare for those looking for them.

The losses to Cork and Limerick in the previous two rounds meant there was very little riding on this one in terms of the league, but those consecutive defeats, coupled with a growing sense that it was time for Henry Shefflin’s side to show some bit of form, meant that there was still pressure on the Tribesmen to put in a decent performance against their neighbours.

Things didn’t look great in that regard when Clare raced into a 0-8 to 0-1 lead inside the opening quarter of an hour, but when Galway finally clicked into gear after that, they powered back into the contest.

They had the gap back down to a point by half-time, before pushing on in the second-half. Conor Whelan’s goal just before the hour mark put his side seven points clear, 1-21 to 0-17, and while Galway took their foot off the gas in the closing stages, they still ran out comfortable winners.

The way Clare completely fell away means no one should be getting too carried away with the comeback, but the display would have ticked a lot of the right boxes for Shefflin and company.

On the personnel front, both Daithí Burke and Ronan Glennon came into the starting lineup for their first appearances in the league. With Gearóid McInerney going well in the full-back line, Daithí was stationed at centre-back for the duration and can be happy enough with his display on his return, chipping in with a couple of excellent long-range points.

Glennon, for his part, put in a good shift and outscored the man he was tasked with marking, Tony Kelly, by a point to nil, though it must be said that Kelly looked well within himself as he makes his way back from injury. It’s a feather in the cap for Glennon nonetheless, and Galway’s midfield options were further strengthened with the return to action of David Burke, the St Thomas’ man getting 20 minutes into his legs.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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