Can Canning can the Cats?
O’Connor Park, Tullamore, 7pm Saturday. That is the time, date and place to be for those who are keen to find out first-hand how well-placed John McIntyre’s side are in their quest to upset the order of merit in the Leinster Hurling Championship.
Because, with no disrespect intended on the part of Niall Rigney’s Laois side, this match will really mark Galway’s arrival into the East of the country. Galway have played Laois a number of times in recent years via the Qualifiers and have won comfortably, and would have been fully expected to do the same again this year. In spite of a few shaky moments early on, they did just this a few weeks back, winning out in the end on a score line of 5-29 to 0-17.
The principal reason for re-formatting Leinster was: (a) to give Galway and Antrim more competitive games; and (b) because it had become increasingly stale with Kilkenny winning the final each year with relative ease (they have ten out of the last eleven finals in the province).
There is no doubt that the first reason will be fulfilled, especially if both counties stay the course. As for the second point, well, Saturday will tell us whether or not this current Galway team is capable of putting it up to the Cats or not. On paper, it certainly should be Kilkenny’s to lose, but it should be remembered that Galway are the only team to have beaten Brian Cody’s side twice in the Championship since the beginning of the decade, so they should not be dismissed lightly. They also put it up to Kilkenny for 55-60 minutes two years ago before Kilkenny, and Eddie Brennan in particular, pulled away in the final quarter.
It should also be noted that neither of the two Cannings were playing that day (Ollie was retired, and Joe had opted against joining the panel as he wanted to spend the summer traveling). However, this is where the first problem with Galway comes into play. In that game against the Black & Amber in 2007, the likes of Niall Healy and Alan Kerins played extremely well, and Iarlath Tannian was doing a good job of nullifying the threat of Tommy Walsh. Hayes and Kerins got 0-7 from play between them that day, but last year against Cork, Niall Healy only managed a solitary point off Shane O’Neill, while Alan Kerins was withdrawn half-way through the second half after failing to find the target (though he was reportedly struggling with injury going into the match).
The reason it was so close in the end was down to Joe Canning, who scored 2-12 of the 2-15 that the Tribesmen managed on the day. Yet, when he wasn’t there the year before, the other forwards’ performances were much more polished. This would suggest that the other forwards were far too willing to pass the responsibility for getting scores onto the Portumna man’s shoulders. More often than not, he will come up with the goods, but that won’t be enough against the big teams, and the likes of Healy, Damien Hayes and Aonghus Callanan will have to be on form on the same day as Canning if they are to get past the Kilkennys, Tipperarys and Corks this year.
There had been major concerns about Canning during the week as he has struggled with groin and stomach injuries for the past year, but it seems highly likely that he will play on Saturday. We’ll just have to see how fit he is. Presuming he is fit, himself, Hayes and Healy have enormous potential in the full-forward line. They scored 5-18 between them against the O’Moore County the last day and have the ability to cause the Kilkenny back line problems, even if Healy and Hayes have the potential to be erratic. What might help them, though, is the fact that it is uncertain what Kilkenny’s full-back line will be. Noel Hickey was due to return to his customary No. 3 jersey, but he picked up a knee injury in a club game last weekend, and is in a race against time to be fit. If he was unable to play, it would probably mean J.J. Delaney moving from left-half-back, which is always a pity because he is a joy to watch in the half-back line and he is never as comfortable when asked to fill the Hickey role.
The last time Galway faced a Kilkenny side minus Noel Hickey was when they beat them in 2005. John Tennyson was full-back that day, and his direct opponent, Niall Healy, got three goals, so this gives you an idea of just how important a player Hickey is to the Kilkenny cause.
Nevertheless, though, Kilkenny still have so many options throughout their team with the likes of Michael Rice, Michael Fennelly, James ‘Cha’ Fitzpatrick and Derek Lyng slugging it out for the two midfield berths, while the likes of T.J. Reid and Richie Hogan are putting enormous pressure on the six starting forwards from last year.
Put simply, you would imagine that Kilkenny would have too much in the tank for Galway, especially when there is so much uncertainty surrounding the spine of the Galway side. John Lee at centre-back and Joe Canning at full-forward are the two certainties, but it is somewhat unclear who will be in the No. 3, 8, 9 and 11 jerseys. Shane Kavanagh was full-back the last day, but he went off with a knock at half-time, while the midfield was switched around as well, and the centre-forward from the last day, Kevin ‘Chunky’ Hayes, is suspended after his straight red-card in Portlaoise.
Whoever is picked in these positions will be given a huge opportunity to show their worth to John McIntyre and his selectors, and will surely be kept there if they do impress. Having said all that though, it is still hard to see Galway coming out on top (though it will would be foolish to rule out a shock), as Kilkenny should be able to expose the Galway men’s weaknesses to a reasonable degree.
Hopefully they will put it up to them though, as the Leinster and All-Ireland Championship could do with Kilkenny being tested at this stage of the year because, if we were telling the truth, that hasn’t happened since their defeat by Wexford five years back.