Inside Track with John McIntyre

By the time the Munster hurling championship is over, the three teams which eventually come through will be punch drunk from beating the daylights out of each other in what has been another merciless campaign down south.

But over in Leinster, Galway and Kilkenny are in cruise control, continuing to stand head and shoulders above everyone else, ensuring they will both be much fresher if not quite as battle-hardened for the All-Ireland series compared to their Southern counterparts.

It’s potentially a big advantage even though Munster have a stranglehold on the Liam McCarthy Cup for the past five years – four All-Irelands for Limerick and one for Tipperary over a period when Galway and Kilkenny teams haven’t been far away but unable to deliver the knock-out blows.

For all the brilliant and high intensity hurling in both Ennis and Thurles on Sunday, the big drama from the weekend action was Westmeath’s sensational comeback from a 17-point deficit to overhaul struggling Wexford in their own backyard. We know even double-digits leads are no longer safe in hurling, but this heroic comeback stretched the bounds of believability.

Leading by 2-15 to 0-5 at the interval, Wexford were virtually home and dry, but they collapsed without trace on the resumption and were outscored by a staggering 4-13 to 0-7 in a humiliating and embarrassing day for the Slaneysiders. Things haven’t been going well for them this year, but this represents surely an all-time low against a team which had suffered a 34-point hammering from Galway in their previous outing.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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