Galway win semi-final classic against Tipperary

Callanan scored an incredible 3-9, but still finished on the losing side. “No doubt that score and that win will bring him on a tonne”.

“We had a sucker punch at the start (Seamus Callanan’s goal in the first minute) but we hurled really well”.

Within 38 seconds Callanan outfield Padraig Mannion from a Shane McGrath delivery and slotted past Colm Callanan.

Galway responded well though, hitting the next four points but Tipp had drawn level before Callanan completed his hat trick in the 53rd minute, which finally forced a switch between Mannion and John Hanbury.

The award for the man-of-the-match always seems to go to a player from the winning team.

One wonders why Anthony Cunningham opted not to deploy a sweeper in an effort to nullify the threat of Callanan. He had to acknowledge them but his steely determination betrays a great talent without a county All-Ireland title.

They could go looking in many areas for that vital one point that would have made the difference.

The eventual replacement of both their midfielders Shane McGrath and James Woodlock is an indication of how the battle in the middle third of the field panned out.

Even though he ended up with five wides, Joe Canning was showing excellent leadership up front and his briliant 37th-minute point from a sideline cut set the tone in the early stages of the second half.

Crucially Callinan twice denied Patrick Maher goals in the same attack in the 45th minute.

Seamus Callanan was described by Cunningham as unmarkable and when pressed on the lack of cover provided to full-back Pádraig Mannion, he replied: “We wanted to keep three backs, it was man-to-man out there”.

They never raised a green flag all afternoon but didn’t need to with Joe Canning scoring 10 points and ably assisted in the scoring ranks by Cathal Mannion and Jason Flynn who hit 0-5 apiece.

A devastated Eamon O’Shea has insisted that Tipperary will regroup under new management next year. Galway were magnificent and an absolute joy to watch at times.

The semi-final of the All-Ireland Championship saw Tipperary meet Galway in what was a rollercoaster of emotion for GAA lovers all over the country and beyond.

“Already planned and known in advance all was missing was the date, a truly inspirational and passionate Tipperary manager Eamon O’Shea, led his side into combat one last time in Croke Park on Sunday last”, the statement read. There will be many post mortems over the winter – not least an analysis of how they handled the six weeks break since the Munster final win.

But the question now is will the Liam MacCarthy Cup end up in Leinster or Connacht next month?

Subs: J Cooney for C Donnellan (53), D Collins for Smith (64), G Lally for Harte (65), S Maloney (0-01) for Cooney (69), P Brehony for Hanbury (70). Subs; S Bourke for Forde ht; L Corbett for McGrath 55m; N McGrath (0-1) for Bourke 61m; C O’Mahony (0-1) for Woodlock 63m; M O’Brien for R Maher 72m.