Leinster Senior Hurling Championship

GALWAY 0-26 DUBLIN 2-19

By Cian O'Connell at Pearse Stadium

Though the stakes weren’t piled too high in Salthill Galway and Dublin still summoned a lively second half to entertain 9,957 interested spectators.

Initially the first half hadn’t provide much suspense, but Dublin thundered into the reckoning in the third quarter as the match concluded with plenty of drama.

Jason Flynn’s free in the fifth minute of stoppage time proved to be the decisive blow as Galway secured the spoils, but Dublin left Pearse Stadium heartened too following a gritty display.

While the opening half might have been low on intensity it was still laced with splendid scores from a variety of angles.

A polished Galway outfit converted eight of their first nine shots confirming their skill and by the time the interval rolled around the locals led by seven.

Early on Dublin were busy only trailing 0-5 to 0-4 by the 13th minute, but Galway struck five of the next six points to really seize the initiative.

During that burst of Galway craft Jason Flynn, Joseph Cooney, and Conor Cooney all clipped sweet efforts from play for Micheal Donoghue’s standard bearers.

At the opposite end of the field Dublin weren’t sufficiently clinical nailing nine from 19 opening period attempts.

Another Galway flurry included delightful points from Padraic Mannion and Conor Whelan as the maroon team went in armed with a healthy 0-16 to 0-9 cushion.

The complexion altered dramatically in the 10 minutes immediately after the restart when substitute Paul Winters punished two lapses in concentration with a couple of opportunistic goals.

Winters netted in the 39th minute supplying a flick to the back of the Galway net and added a second following a Jason Flynn free moments later.

Suddenly the gap was trimmed to the minimum and then Dublin custodian Alan Nolan launched a long range free to restore parity.

Nolan subsequently drilled a free in the 48th minute steering the visitors ahead as the tempo increased hugely.

In the remaining minutes Galway were crafty enough to shrug off Dublin’s spirited resistance outscoring Pat Gilroy’s improving team by eight points to six down the home straight.

Flynn’s last gasp free edged Galway in front and fittingly the game concluded with the sliotar being tamed by the immaculate Padraic Mannion, who had struck three points from wing back, while also repeatedly thwarting Dublin with some shrewd defensive interventions.

Kilkenny in the Leinster decider is next on the agenda for Galway. That should be a tasty encounter at GAA headquarters.

Scorers for Galway: Jason Flynn 0-11 (9fs), Conor Whelan, Padraic Mannion, and Joseph Cooney 0-3 each, David Burke and Conor Cooney 0-2 each, Cathal Mannion and Sean Loftus 0-1 each

**Scorers for Dublin: **Paul Winters 2-1, Rian McBride (1 sideline) and David Treacy (3fs) 0-4 each, Paul Ryan 0-3 (3fs), Alan Nolan 0-2 (2fs), Cian Boland, James Madden, Sean Moran, and Jake Malone 0-1 each.

GALWAY: James Skehill; Paul Killeen, Daithi Burke, Aidan Harte; Padraic Mannion, Gearoid McInerney, John Hanbury; Sean Loftus, David Burke; Joseph Cooney, Niall Burke, Cathal Mannion; Conor Whelan, Conor Cooney, Jason Flynn.

Subs: Eanna Burke for Loftus (44), Shane Cooney for Killeen (50), Davy Glennon for Conor Cooney (68), Padraig Brehony for Joseph Cooney (70+3).

DUBLIN: Alan Nolan; Paddy Smyth, Cian O'Callaghan, Eoghan O'Donnell; Shane Barrett, Sean Moran, Chris Crummey; Rian McBride, Tomas Connolly; Jake Malone, Fiontan McGibb, Cian Boland; David Treacy, Danny Sutcliffe, Paul Ryan.

Subs: Eamon Dillon for Paul Ryan (HT), Paul Winters for Connolly (HT), Cian McBride for Boland (48), James Madden for McGibb (66), John McCaffrey for McBride (70+3).

REFEREE: Diarmuid Kirwan (Cork).