The annual Baireoiri na Gaillimhe social tonight in the Loughrea Hotel will celebrate all the Galway hurlers who lined out in senior championship for the county from 1971 to 1975, the year seen as the big 'breakthrough' as the Tribesmen won the National League and qualified for the All-Ireland final for the first time in 17 years.
Tonight will also mark the 20th anniversary of Galway's All Ireland minor success of 1999. It was Galway's 4th title overall and 3rd of the decade at minor level and came about after victories over Clare, Kilkenny and Tipperary. Managed by John Hardiman and captained by John Culkin, Galway blitzed Clare in the quarter-final 5-11 to 1-10, held on to beat Kilkenny 1-18 to 3-9 and overpowered Tipperary 0-13 to 0-10 in the final. The following Connacht Tribune match reports tell the tale of the 1999 All-Ireland winning minor campaign...
All-Ireland Quarter Final: Galway 5-11 Clare 1-10
Regardless of what has been done at school or club level, it is always impossible to gauge the strength of a Galway minor hurling team until they are witnessed in championship action but there was enough at Croke Park on Sunday to suggest that this latest crop will make a strong bid for honours. They laid the foundation for their success in the opening half when they rattled in five goals to establish a 5-4 to 0-6 lead and with wind advantage to follow, a victory of record proportions seemed inevitable. The fact that this did not materialise — Galway scored 0-7 after the restart to Clare's 1-4 — is no harm for despite registering a double-scores win of thirteen points, Galway will feel that there is still room for improvement in the All-Ireland semi-final against Kilkenny. Two years ago Clare became the first team in the country to win an All-Ireland title coming through the back door system when they went on to collect their first-ever minor crown, pipping Galway by two points in the final. It took Galway less than three minutes to dispel any notion Clare might have had of repeating their '97 success for, by then, their net had been rattled twice and the eventual outcome was already becoming clear. Damien Hayes set up the first goal after less than a minute for David Forde to fire home the first of his two goals — not much more than a minute later Cathal Coen shook the Clare net again. It took Clare most of the opening quarter to stage any sort of recovery but points from Brian Kennedy, Diarmuid McMahon and two frees from Gareth McPhillips saw then regain their composure — only for Galway to again hammer them with goals. Craughwell's Michael Coughlan blasted home the third goal after 30 minutes after 22 minutes and a minute later Cathal Coen further punished the Bannermen with a goal from a penalty. Rampant full-forward David Forde took his first-half tally to 2-2 just before the break after Coughlan had again smashed holes in the beleagured Clare defence. Two points within three minutes of the restart from Cathal Coen left Galway a clear five goals in front... 5-6 to 0-6 . . . and any notions of a Clare revival were well and truly dispelled. They did hit three points without reply in a three-minute spell up to the 48th minute but they lacked the potency up front to provide a constant threat to an excellent defence which did not have a weak link and where left corner-back Ronan Reilly gave a man-of-the-match performance. John Culkin and Conor Dervan manned the central defensive roles with authority, while up front Michael Coughlan and David Forde did likewise, with Cathal Coen leading the scoring charge. Clare's only dent in the Galway rearguard came eleven minutes from the end when Gareth McPhillips shot home after goalkeeper Johnny O'Loughlin had saved well from Brian Culbert. But Clare, who couldn't fault Conor Harrison, Diarmuid McMahon, Brian Kennedy and Gareth McPhillips, had no answer on the day to a powerful Galway performance which was a credit to new manager John Hardiman and his selectors. Galway: J. O'Loughlin; B. O'Mahony, J. Culkin, R. Reilly; F. Moore, C. Dervan (0-1, '65'), M.J. Quinn; H. Whiriskey, S. Tierney; R. Murray (0-1), M. Coughlan (1-1), K. Brady (0-1); D. Hayes (0-1), D. Forde (2-2), C. Coen (2-4, 0-3 frees, 1-0 penalty). Subs: I. Canning for Tierney, 48 mins; G. Farragher for Brady, inj. 57 mins. Clare: D. Quinn; C. Harrison R. O'Looney, D. Walsh; A. O'Brien, D. McMahon (0-2, both '65's), P. Fitzpatrick; R. Liddane, R. Hogan; T. Griffin, T. Carmody (0-1), B. Kennedy (0-3); G. McPhillips (0-3, all frees), B. Culbert, D. Fitzsimons (0-1). Subs: A. Quinn for Fitzsimons 29 mins; B. McPhillips for Walsh, half-time; R. Conlon for Liddane, 44 mins. Referee: B. Kelly (Westmeath).
All-Ireland semi-final: Galway 1-18 Kilkenny 3-9
Kilkenny, roared on by around 25,000 supporters in comparison to the few hundred from the West, got within a point of Galway with five minutes left but, in fairness, John Hardiman's charges had the character and composure to hold on and win a game that should have been secured in a canter. This is the second time this Galway side has won despite collapsing in the second-half — against Clare in the quarter-final they rattled in 5-4 in the opening half but fell away after the restart. The difference then was that Clare did not possess the talent to seriously threaten them. You wouldn't have given Kilkenny much chance either when they went in trailing by 1-12 to 0-4. In truth, the margin should have been bigger for Galway shot nine wides and were hurling with great confidence. Kilkenny, quite simply, were not given a look in. Galway's dominance was reflected all over the field, not least in the accomplished halfback line of Fergal Moore Conor Dervan and Michael John Quinn while Craughwell's Hugh Whiriskey was superb throughout at midfield. The Galway attack in the first-half was a joy to watch; the level of understanding between players was magnificent, the interchanges, running off the ball and the willingness of the forwards to hunt and harass in packs, ensuring that Kilkenny struggled to clear their lines. Full-forward David Forde was in rampant form, shooting five points from play in that opening half while Richie Murray from St Thomas sent over three. Indeed, all but a point of Galway's 1-12 came from play during a devastating period of hurling. The goal came after eight minutes, Dervan delivering a long ball which Forde gathered and turned. The Clarenbridge man could have gone himself and the chance seemed to be lost when he unselfishly handpassed left to clubmate Cathal Coen who was left with a tight angle, but he did not hesitate and sent the ball to the net with a superb first-time pull. That put Galway 1-4 to 0-1 ahead and while they were playing with the breeze, there was no doubting the gulf in class with Galway picking off points from all angles with Damien Hayes in the right corner doing trojan work in creating opportunities. Kilkenny rarely got the chance to threaten although Eddie Walsh landed two points from the left flank and it seemed little more than damage limitation in the second-half for a county that has won the last ten Leinster minor championships. The complexion of the game began to change 90 seconds after the restart when Galway corner-back Brian O'Mahoney was adjudged to have fouled Kilkenny interval substitute Eoin McCormack and centre forward Gordon Byrne blasted the resultant penalty to the back of the net. The Galway response was another point from Richie Murray — he finished with six from play in all — within 30 seconds and Kevin Brady and Cathal Coen also found the range to leave Galway ahead by 1-15 to 1-5 after 37 minutes. Gordon Byrne pulled back two points for Kilkenny before they got a real break fourteen minutes from the end when a long free by wing-back Timmy Murphy was deflected to the net by full-forward Kieran Rafter. A minute later the lull-forward raced onto a long delivery and fired to the net past the advancing Galway goalkeeper Johnny O Loughlin who shipped a heavy knock lor his trouble and within another minute Kilkenny had reduced to the deficit to a solitary point with an excellent effort from the right-wing by Derek Brennan. But Galway were not to be denied. Damien Hayes and David Forde came out from the full-forward line to the middle of the field and helped stem the flow, while captain John Culkin and corner-back Ronan Reilly made vital clearances. Yet, the Galway attack continued to miss glorious chances upfront, although Sylane's Kevin Brady found the target with seven minutes left. That score was cancelled by a '65 from wing-back Murphy, but Galway, to their credit, finished strongly and secured their place in the final with two more points from wing-forward Murray. Team manager John Hardiman and his selectors Michael Bodkin, Michael Murray and John Moylan will not be pleased with Galway's second-half display but they will be proud of the way their charges held on when Kilkenny, with half the stadium roaring them on, came at them in waves in the final quarter. Galway: J. O'Loughlin; B. O'Mahoney. J. Culkin, R. Reilly; F. Moore, C. Dervan, M.J. Quinn; H. Whiriskey (0-2), S. Tierney; R. Murray (0-6), M. Coughlan, K. Brady (0-3); D. Hayes, D. Forde (0-5), C. Coen (1-2, 0-2 frees). Subs: D. McLoughlin for Tierney, 19 mins; G. Farragher for McLoughlin, 50 mins. Kilkenny: D. Herity; K Doheny, J. Tyrrell, B. Murphy T Murphy (0-1, '65), C. Hickey, J. Delaney; G. Byrne, C. O'Neill; M. Phelan (0-1), G. Byrne (1-4, 1-0 penalty), D. Brennan (0-1); D. Dowling, K. Rafter (2-0), E. Walsh (0-2), Subs: E. McCormack for Brennan, half-time; A. Fogarty for Phelan, 40 mins. Referee: J. McLean (Antrim).
All-Ireland Final: Galway 0-13 Tipperary 0-10
THE PAST told us that Galway had never won an All-Ireland minor final showdown with Tipperary in five meetings but it is to the future this county will now, quite rightly, look after ending the decade, the century and millennium with the best U-18 hurling team in the country. Not one of this squad was born when Joe Connolly lifted the McCarthy Cup in 1980, few of them were old enough to have any real appreciation of Galway's back to back successes in the late 'eighties. Their desire to succeed was born not out of senior success, but with a strong appreciation of the pain of defeat.
This particular team had tasted defeat at the hands of Tipperary at U-14 and U-16 level and had seen strong minor teams in the past few years fall short of what was required to bring the Irish Press Cup back to Galway for only the fourth time ever. Somewhere along the way, perhaps in the second half of their semi-final struggle with Kilkenny, you sensed they had that something special that would bring home a badly needed All-Ireland title. From the outset manager John Hardiman and his selectors Michael Murray, Michael Bodkin and John Moylan had ingrained in this squad the need and importance to enjoy what they were at, to savour their stint as county minors regardless of how successful they were. Accordingly, what developed was a side that took great pleasure in what it was doing, the confidence level soaring as each piece of formula fell into place and the net result of it all was a victorious team whose three-point winning margin did scant justice to their superiority over a Tipperary side who within their own county at least had picked up a misplaced 'dream team' status. There is no doubt Tipperary were grossly over-rated, yet such a simple explanation for their dismal showing should not be allowed for one moment disguise the fact that they were just not permitted to hurl on Sunday by Galway, especially up front where the Munster champions' attack was restrained by a truly superlative defensive display. In their two prior outings, it was the Galway attack which paved the way for victory but on Sunday it was the rearguard who really made the difference between winning and losing in a match at Croke Park that failed to live up to its billing and which rarely exhilarated the neutrals waiting for the senior encounter between Cork and Kilkenny. Yet, that should not unduly bother Galway. As a unit their defence produced a wonderful display, not least in the final quarter as Tipp finally looked like opening up. But it was when they were put to the ultimate test that the Galway defence really displayed what they were made of. The central line of John Culkin and Conor Dervan, with question marks hanging over them after the almost fatal collapse against Kilkenny, stood up and were counted during that hectic closing finish while around them goalkeeper Johnny O'Loughlin, cornerback Ronan Reilly and wingbacks Fergal Moore and Michael John Quinn worked as a pack. But the undoubted star was in the right corner where Loughrea's Brian Mahony produced one of the great Croke Park minor performances with his confidence to attack the ball and his glue-like grip on a variety of opponents laying down a marker for his colleagues. On any other day wing-forward Richie Murray would have walked away with the man-of-the-match accolade with five superb points from play while David Forde, Damien Hayes and U-16 midfielder Ger Farragher also produced memorable All-Ireland final displays. Yet, it looked far from encouraging for Galway as the first-half developed, especially as the foundation for victory in their outings had been sown in the early stages. Tipp won the toss and elected to play against the wind and it looked a wise decision for most of the opening period. Galway, after shooting two wides in less than 90 seconds of the start, struggled to find a way to the posts and at the end of the opening quarter trailed by 0-3 to 0-2. It seemed to be all going Tipp's way and Eoin Kelly, three years a county minor and underage again next season, looked as if he would win it on his own if he could just get a fraction more space. Cathal Coen had got Galway off the mark with a 60 yards free after five minutes but Kelly and the equally threatening Eoin Brlslane pushed Tipp in front and going into the final five minutes of the half they still led by a point after David Forde and Kelly had landed two points each and Farragher and Donal Shelley had also exchanged points. Tipp kept a tight rein on full-forward Forde, crowding the area in front of goal when danger appeared on the horizon, while they were snapping up a lot of breaks around midfield. The arrival of corner-forward Damien Hayes in that sector as a third midfielder in the latter stages of the half changed a lot for aside from securing a lot of breaking ball, suddenly the inside Tipp defence looked vulnerable when space was created. Tipp led by 0-5 to 0-4 after 27 minutes but suddenly Galway burst into life and struck five points in four minutes to change irrevocably the course of the game. St Thomas' Richie Murray, whose clubmate Anthony Cunningham was the first Galwayman to get his hands on the Irish Press Cup back in '83, landed three of these points, Sylane's Kevin Brady added another and Cathal Coen converted his second free after Forde was fouled. That left Galway 0-9 to 0-5 ahead at the break and after Kelly pointed a 21-yard free after Conor Dervan halted Dermot Gleeson's dangerous run on goal, Murray pointed Galway in the direction of victory with another point from out the field after 35 minutes. One of the scores of the match came three minutes later. The inspirational O'Mahony was tripped on one of his many forays out of the full-back line and Dervan struck the free 80 yards into the wind and between the posts. Bit by bit, Tipp came at Galway and points from Brislane, midfielder Tom King and another from Kelly left just two, 0-11 to 0-9, going into the final quarter. The All-Ireland crown hung in the balance at that stage but you just knew Galway were not going to be beaten when Cashel's U-16 Ger Farragher pointed a remarkable 55 yards line-ball under the Hogan Stand. Cathal Coen watched in horror as three efforts missed the target which would have made the game save and the impact of the consequences of conceding a late goal became more frightening when Kelly reduced the margin with his sixth point with ten minutes left. It is to the credit of Galway's defence that Tipp, despite the wind, did not score again. Dervan made a few rousing catches, captain Culkin threw himself all over the place blocking efforts and all the while Mahony in the corner looked like he could take them all on his own, Galway made their position somewhat more safe with three minutes left when a Dervan clearance ended with Murray shooting his fifth point of the match but it still took a superb block from Culkin to deprive Shelley a late chance to salvage a draw which, in truth Tipp never deserved. Underage success, as Galway well know, never guarantees senior success down the road but it instils genuine hope and it was a pleasure almost forgotten to come away from Croke Park on Sunday with the satisfaction of an All-Ireland won. Well done to all concerned. Galway: J. O'Loughlin; B. Mahony, J, Culkin, R. Reilly; F. Moore, C. Dervan (0-1, free), M. J Quinn; H. Whiriskey, G. Farragher (0-2, one line-ball); R. Murray (0-5), M. Coughlan, K. Brady (0-1); D. Hayes, D. Forde (0-2), C. Coen (0-2, both frees). Subs: B. Gantley for Coen, 56 mins; S. Tierney for Brady, 61 mins. Tipperary: D. Young; C. Everard, P. Curran, D. Maher; C. Ryan, K. Mulryan, L. Kearney; T. King (0-1), S. Mason; D. Shelley (0-1), David Gleeson, E. Brislane (0-2, one line-ball); J. O'Brien, E. Kelly (0-6, four frees), K. Cummins. Subs: M. Maher for D. Maher, 17 mins; L. Brett for Cummins 39 mins; Damien Gleeson for King, 55 mins. Referee: P. Aherne (Carlow).
