The Leinster Senior Hurling Championship gets underway this Saturday afternoon as Kilkenny host Galway in Nowlan Park (throw-in 3.45pm ). Neither side were overly impressive during their respective league campaigns so this is an opportunity to start afresh for both camps.
The outside view may be that these are the two strongest panels in this provincial competition, but Wexford, Dublin, Antrim, and Offaly will all fancy their chances of causing an upset or two along the way.
Galway have only won three Leinster titles in 17 attempts and it could well turn out that their next three games after this weekend are more important.
Given their failure to finish in the top three last year, Micheál Donoghue’s ambition, while never publicly stated, may not stretch beyond cementing third place and a place in a preliminary quarter final. Galway defeated Kilkenny in the same venue earlier this year and have remarkably never lost to the Cats in the group stages since they began in 2017, but Derek Lyng will lose little sleep over that as he plots the Tribesmen’s downfall.
Kilkenny only used seven of the players who had appeared in last year’s All-Ireland semi-final loss to Clare when Galway came to town in early February. Gavin Lee’s performance at centre half back caught the eye on that occasion as Declan McLoughlin scored the crucial goals for Galway, but by the end of the league campaign Lyng had given valuable game time to more seasoned campaigners like Eoin Murphy, Tommy Walsh, Richie Reid, John Donnelly, and of course T.J. Reid.
Richie Reid’s ability to dictate the flow of a game from centre back could be crucial to Lyng’s plans, which were surely honed on a recent training camp in Portugal. Adrian Mullen’s lack of match fitness will be a cause for concern while a bout of pneumonia prevented Eoin Cody from travelling abroad with the rest of the panel.
With a new manager and backroom team in place, have Galway got a greater sense of their best starting fifteen as they start the championship?
Donoghue gave game time to 40 players over the course of their six league games, with senior intercounty debuts handed to ten of those.
Darach Fahy started four of the league games in goals and is likely to fend off the challenge of Eanna Murphy for the number one jersey. Galway’s puck-out strategies will need to be sharp if they are to be competitive against Kilkenny, especially given the fitness status of veteran defender Daithí Burke is as of now unknown.
Darren Morrissey, Lee, Padraic Mannion will be key components of the defensive unit throughout the year if they stay fit, while it will be very surprising if the newly formed midfield partnership of Cianan Fahy and Tom Monaghan is broken up at this point.
Galway will always have plenty of options in attack but creating a cohesive unit that will strike a balance of ball-winners, pace, work-rate, and clinical shooters will be at the heart of Donoghue’s rebuilding process. On Easter Saturday, Galway supporters will be hoping that this contest will not be a harrowing experience and that there are strands of hope available to cling to for the year ahead.
