Replying To baire: "It could easily have been a 20 points win or a loss for Galway yesterday. You're very selective with your examples. How about Joe Canning's miss, if that had gone in. Conor Whelan's miss near the end. The lucky goal KK got in the second have, back off the upright. How many steps did Alyward have to take to retrieve his hurley etc. KK showed great character and tenacity as did Galway. Both teams deserve great credit for a wonderful game."
You create your own luck by being in the position to take advantage of balls coming back off the post so I wouldn't call it lucky. I take your point on the steps, should of been a free in. You could say Galway had a bit of luck in the goal they got. On another day that might of deflected out for a 65. I'm not taking anything away from the result, I just think this is a young Kilkenny team with a lot of players who are 3-5 years behind Galway in terms of conditioning yet had Fogarty not missed that point the game would have been level at a crucial moment. Cyril Donnlan hit the crossbar / post in the 2015 final and KK went on to run away with the match. Had that goal gone in I think Galway would have won that game as they were on top. KK ended up winning it well. That's how fine the margins are. Don't get me wrong, this is a strong Galway squad however I just feel there is a small bit of doubt still there in the back of their minds. The main reason I think Clare would cause them problems is due to their short game. KK went long with 90% of their puckouts and that played into Galways hands. Just my opinion, I could be wrong.
Replying To SAMMYTHEBULL: "GALWAY don't care about things they didn't do before! Actually we are starting to do a lot of things we never did before in all grades of hurling. I agree though, Cork are favourites in a lot of people's books. They are the one's to be beat, as Munster hurling is way ahead of leinster."
Wrong ! The ones to beat are the team that are the current AI champions. That's Galway at the minute.
Replying To Faithfull: "You create your own luck by being in the position to take advantage of balls coming back off the post so I wouldn't call it lucky. I take your point on the steps, should of been a free in. You could say Galway had a bit of luck in the goal they got. On another day that might of deflected out for a 65. I'm not taking anything away from the result, I just think this is a young Kilkenny team with a lot of players who are 3-5 years behind Galway in terms of conditioning yet had Fogarty not missed that point the game would have been level at a crucial moment. Cyril Donnlan hit the crossbar / post in the 2015 final and KK went on to run away with the match. Had that goal gone in I think Galway would have won that game as they were on top. KK ended up winning it well. That's how fine the margins are. Don't get me wrong, this is a strong Galway squad however I just feel there is a small bit of doubt still there in the back of their minds. The main reason I think Clare would cause them problems is due to their short game. KK went long with 90% of their puckouts and that played into Galways hands. Just my opinion, I could be wrong."
Agree re small margins but comparing the KK team of 10 years ago with the present Galway or KK team serves no purpose imo. This is a different era, different championship, different Galway management plus stronger Wexford and Dublin teams.
Replying To endgame: "Hard to understand the rte narrative about Cody building a new Kilkenny team.In every game,Kilkenny are being carried by their established players.TJ Reid(Always excellent )Padraig Walsh, )Paul Murphy and Richie Hogan and Colin Fennelly who were good when coming on today.The new players are either being dropped or subbed.Martin Keoghan didn't start today.Enda Morrissey and Richie Leahy were both taken off.I think Kilkenny are some way off building a new team.Cork are Galway's biggest threat this year.Cork are a fast improving team and Galway have never beaten Cork in a senior All-Ireland hurling Final."
Galway didn't beat Wexford in championship hurling until 2010. Galway didn't beat Waterford in championship hurling until 2017. Is it any wonder we've never beaten Cork in a final?
Johnny Clifford stated after the 1986 final that 'a well prepared Cork team will always beat Galway in an all-ireland final'. Johnny Clifford died in 2007.