Leinster Senior Hurling Championship Final

GALWAY 0-29, WEXFORD 1-17

A record crowd of over 60,000 witnessed Galway win the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship final for only the second time ever against Wexford.

The Allianz League championship gained the upper hand before the interval and pulled clear of Davy Fitzgerald’s side in the second half.

Galway didn’t raise a green flag in either the provincial semi-final or final, but that mattered little as they followed up on a 33 points haul against Offaly with 29 this afternoon.

Micheal Donoghue’s men are now favourites to capture a long sought after All-Ireland title, whereas Wexford must regroup for the qualifiers.

It’s still a season of progress for the Slaney-siders, who brought massive support to GAA HQ and will look to build on this performance in the coming seasons.

But Galway were too strong and sharp in attack, with man of the match Conor Cooney leading the way with a personal tally of eight points.

Joe Canning didn’t score from open play, but his nine points included a magnficent sideline cut in the second half. Niall Burke and Joseph Cooney also came to the fore as Galway hammered home their superiority in the closing 25 minutes.

And they had Colm Callanan to thank for preventing Wexford for gaining some much-needed momentum when he saved a Conor McDonald penalty in the 40h minute.

At that stage, Wexford only trailed by three points (0-14 to 0-11) and Lee Chin converted the resultant ‘65’ to cut the gap to two.

But Galway fired over seven points in a row in the next ten minutes. A Diarmuid O’Keeffe goal in the 52^nd minute gave Wexford renewed hope, but Conor Cooney and Joe Canning ensured their would be no late worries for the Westerners.

The first half was a terrific battle, with the sides level on six occasions and Wexford enjoying a 0-11 to 0-10 advantage, before Galway edged ahead with four points in a row.

Scorers for Galway: Joe Canning 0-10 (0-8f, 0-1 65, 0-1 s/l), Conor Cooney 0-8 (0-01f), Joseph Cooney 0-5, Niall Burke 0-2, Padraic Mannion 0-1, David Burke 0-1, Shane Maloney 0-1, Thomas Monaghan 0-1.

Scorers for Wexford: Conor McDonald 0-5 (0-3f), Diarmuid O’Keeffe 1-1, Lee Chin 0-4 (0-2f, 1 65), Paul Morris 0-2, Matthew O’Hanlon 0-2, Jack O’Connor 0-1, Willie Devereux 0-1, Cathal Dunbar 0-1.

GALWAY: Colm Callanan; Adrian Tuohy, Daithi Burke, Aidan Harte; Padraic Mannion, Gearoid McInerney, John Hanbury; Johnny Coen, David Burke; Joseph Cooney, Joe Canning, Jason Flynn; Conor Whelan, Conor Cooney, Niall Burke

Subs: Thomas Monaghan for Flynn (31), Shane Maloney for Canning 67, Greg Lally for J Cooney 68, Sean Loftus for P Mannion (72).

WEXFORD: Mark Fanning; Liam Ryan, Willie Devereux, James Breen; Simon Donohoe, Matthew O’Hanlon, Diarmuid O’Keeffe; Lee Chin, Jack O’Connor; Paul Morris, Aidan Nolan, Conor McDonald; Shaun Murphy, Jack Guiney, Harry Kehoe.

Subs: David Redmond for O’Connor (h/t), Eoin Moore for Donohoe (47), Cathal Dunbar for Kehoe (53), Shane Tomkins for Nolan (63).

Ref: Colm Lyons (Cork).