Inside Track with John McIntyre

SITTING in my car in Salthill on Saturday about 90 minutes before the Galway senior hurling final got underway, it was impossible to avoid the feeling that this wasn’t right. Wind and driving rain were buffeting the few hardy souls making their way to Pearse Stadium. It was a grim, dreary night.

There was nothing to suggest that Galway club hurling’s showpiece event was about to take place. No hawkers selling flags or scarves; no bustling crowds making their way to the stadium; no trappings of county final day. It was a hostile night made for indoors, and yet the players of Loughrea and St Thomas’ were forced to battle the elements under floodlights.

Unless you are a burglar or an owl, most things come easier to the rest of us in daylight. On Saturday evening, you’d feel particularly sorry for rival supporters having to get their children ready to brave the wind and rain, while the lack of atmosphere during the match was palpable.

The media were given an estimated ‘official’ attendance of 4,200 but I am a long time going to matches and, to me, it appeared the crowd barely scratched 3,000. There was no pre-match parade either and the whole thing screamed: ‘we have made our bed, let’s lie in it’.

Galway is a vibrant sporting county and in a competitive marketplace to attract support, local GAA officials must be mindful of the show they put on. Saturday night was an endurance test for everyone and, judging by the post-match reaction, even diehard hurling people felt a little betrayed.

I understand the County Board’s rationale. There has been a big investment in the floodlights, and what’s the point of spending all that money unless the facility is availed of. It’s also important to point out that Paul Bellew and company were entitled to trial the knock-out stages of the hurling title race under lights.

And in their defence, they couldn’t have imagined the weather turning so foul for both the semi-finals and final. It was tough luck on an industrial scale, but that’s the risk at this time of the year when once again Galway are the last of the elite counties to stage their senior hurling final. Had the match gone ahead at Pearse Stadium on Sunday afternoon, and even if conditions were just as inclement, it wouldn’t have felt nearly as bad.

Pictured: A MOMENT IN TIME: Loughrea’s Neil Keary and his son Jack, Sean Sweeney and his son Bobby, and Johnny Coen and his daughter Phoebe during the celebrations after Loughrea defeated St Thomas’ in the County Senior Hurling Final at Pearse Stadium last Saturday. Photo: Joe O’Shaughnessy.