Three reasons the Cork hurlers lost to Galway in Thurles
Shane Kingston of Cork is tackled by Darren Morrisey and Cathal Mannion of Galway. Picture: Ray McManus/Sportsfile
This was the first championship game since the Munster round-robin opener against Limerick where Cork conceded more than one goal, but unfortunately, those two strikes were very costly.
Jack Grealish’s ball in would be safely gathered by Patrick Collins 99 times out of 100, while Seán O’Donoghue’s misjudgement of Tom Monaghan’s ball for Conor Whelan was one of the few duff calls he made all year. Both times, though, the ball ended in the net and Galway were 2-6 to 0-7 in front at half-time, with having caught fire.
As well as those seven first-half points, Cork had 12 wides and three goals chances saved by Galway’s Éanna Murphy. While they landed 1-12 in the second half to reduce the five-point margin to one by the end, they never drew level at any stage in the game. If they had the front, then there is every chance that they would have pushed on, but as it was, Galway were always able to add a point or two to ensure they retained breathing space.
While it looked like Cork’s youth would stand to them in the home stretch as Galway tired, instead Henry Shefflin’s side were able to hold their heads and slow the game down. They certainly benefited from a couple of questionable refereeing calls, but they can be said to have earned their own luck too.
The challenge for Cork is to make the experience an educational one.
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