Galway 1-24; Clare 0-22
Galway hurlers have a touch of the Mayo footballers about them. When you expect something big, they let you down and when you write them off, they shock you with the depth and quality of their play.
So Henry Shefflin must wonder which team in maroon he will get on any given Sunday. Certainly, he has tried out several new faces to see what his strength in depth is like and on Sunday in Cusack Park, he got more than an inkling that his side's mettle is made of much better stuff than many give them credit for.
That was due to the manner in which they achieved a 12-point turnaround after a lackluster start which saw them fall seven points behind as the Banner raced into a 0-8 to 0-1 lead after the first quarter in front of an enthusiastic crowd of over 6,000 in Ennis.
At that stage, the Tribesmen were well on their way to a third loss in the league to date with the inevitable post mortems such a display would bring.
Then they woke up and by half-time were just a point in arrears 0-12 to 0-11 and thereafter, with the wind at their backs, they took the game to Brian Lohan's side and eventually won by five points, thanks in the main to Conor Whelan's brilliant solo goal 11 minutes from time. Another Conor, Conor Cooney also stood up in this period and lashed over five great scores, four in the second moiety.
Poor Clare. They couldn't miss at the start but after the changeover, lady luck deserted them and that was best exemplified when David Reidy seemed certain to negative Whelan's green flag but his effort came back off a post and was cleared.
Galway: E Murphy; J Grealish, G McInerney, TJ Brennan; P Mannion, D Burke (0-2), J Cooney (0-1); R Glennon (0-1), T Monaghan (0-2); C Cooney (0-5), B Concannon (0-1), C Fahy; E Niland (0-9, 0-5f, 0-1’65), C Whelan (1-0), K Cooney (0-2) Subs: S Linnane (0-1) for Glennon (52), T Killeen for Burke (57), D Burke for Fahy (67), D McLoughlin for Concannon (69).
Clare: E Foudy; A Hogan, C Cleary, P Flanagan; D Ryan, J Conlon, C Galvin (0-1); C Malone (0-1), T Kelly; D Fitzgerald (0-4), P Duggan (0-1), R Taylor (0-1); D Reidy (0-3), A McCarthy (0-7, 0-6f), Davie Conroy Subs: B O'Connell for Ryan (44), R Mounsey (0-1) for Conroy (45), S Morey (0-1) for Duggan (54), I Galvin (0-2) for McCarthy (62), A Shanagher for Reidy (67)
Ref: C Lyons (Cork).
Tipperary 4-23; Waterford 0-25
Liam Cahill was the Waterford manager last year and after winning the league, the wheels fell off the Deise wagon for the rest of the season.
Back with his native Tipperary on Saturday night, it must have felt awkward for him as Davy Fitzgerald's young team came to Semple Stadium intent on showing their old manager what they could do without him.
In the end though, the loss of a player and a hat-trick of Jake Morris goals meant that Cahill was the one with the crowing rights on the night as they booked a place in the league semi-final thanks to their top place finish in Div 1B. He had been at the helm as Waterford won five games against the Premier so starting off with a win in his first head-to-head was indeed satisfying.
It was even-steven until the last 15 minutes when Jamie Barron was shown a red card, allowing Tipp to hit 3-8 to their opponents meagre 0-6 as the clock ticked down.
In the aftermatch, Cahill will hope to keep the goal currency minting as this part had been lacking in Tipp's game. Waterford fans will wonder what is happening with Austin Gleeson, who was benched by Fitzgerald after half an hour, having been held scoreless by Dan McCormack's close marking.
The visitors had seven wides in the first half as Tipp led 1-12 to 0-11 at the interval. Still they motored on and were looking the more likely when Jack Fitzgerald and Neil Montgomery raised flags. The presence of Tadhg de Burca for the first time this year was massive for the Deise as they led 0-17 to 1-13 with 15 minutes to go.
It all changed then though as Morris got in for his second goal while Barron departed, leaving a gaping hole in the middle.
Bryan O’Mara and Ronan Maher combined to win possession and this allowed Conor Bowe to shoot his side's third goal. With Forde chipping in with points, the lead was pushed out to seven points and while young Patrick Fitzgerald shot two fine points, the last word fell to Morris who shot his third goal following great interplay with Jason Forde.
Tipperary: R Shelly; Johnny Ryan, M Breen, E Connolly; D McCormack, B O’Mara, R Maher; C Stakelum (0-2), A Tynan (0-1); G O’Connor (0-9, 0-7f, 0-1 65), N McGrath (0-1), S Kennedy (0-1); J Morris (3-0), P Maher (0-1), S Callanan Subs: M Kehoe (0-2) for Callanan (20 inj), J Forde (0-6, 1f) for Tynan (48), C Bowe (1-0) for O’Connor (57), J McGrath for Bowe (67 inj), J Campion for N McGrath (69).
Waterford: B Nolan; C Prunty, I Daly (0-1), M Fitzgerald; C Lyons (0-4), T de Búrca, S McNulty; A Gleeson, J Barron (0-2); N Montgomery (0-1), J Prendergast (0-3), P Curran; D Hutchinson (0-1), S Bennett (0-8f), C Dunford (0-1) Subs: C Daly for McNulty (16-24 blood), K Mahony for Gleeson (30), C Daly for Curran (h-t), C Ryan for Prunty (h-t), Patrick Fitzgerald (0-3, 2f) for Bennett (59), Paudie Fitzgerald (0-1) for Dunford (64).
Ref: J Owens (Wexford).
Division 1A
Cork 2-14; Wexford 0-18
Galway 1-24; Clare 0-22
Limerick 1-27; Westmeath 1-15
Division 1B
Tipperary 4-23; Waterford 0-25
Antrim 3-18; Laois 1-18
Kilkenny 2-25; Dublin 1-17
