Cork sitting pretty as they come out on top after seaside scoring spree in Salthill

Galway 3-22 Cork 4-24

The view from up here is not too shabby for Pat Ryan. After two weeks of huffing and puffing, the erratic Allianz Hurling League now enters a midterm intermission. A time to reset, rinse out any lingering dirty diesel and motor on again.

Thing is, Cork have been motoring just fine. Following wins over Limerick and Galway they sit top of Division 1A. The break? Well, Ryan wouldn’t mind hurling away, truth be told.

“We’d love another game, to be honest, we’d love to keep going,” said the Cork manager, after watching his side stage a powerful third-quarter surge that swept Galway aside in front of 8,872 spectators at Pearse Stadium.

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It was a madcap game, part schoolyard hurling, part early-season fine-tuning. There were 53 scores over the course of the contest. Galway tallied 3-22 but still lost.

The Tribesmen led by five points during the first half but trailed by 11 as the game approached the last minute of normal time, yet somehow still only lost by five, while also missing an injury-time penalty. Galway finished the game with 13 players, Cork with 14. Conor Lehane scored 2-3, Declan Dalton delivered one of his best displays in a Cork jersey.

And yet everything comes with that enduring caveat, sure tis only the league.

“We’re just delighted with the attitude and the character that our lads are giving but, look, it’s early days,” added Ryan.

This game was won in a six-minute spell just after half-time. The sides went in level at the turnaround on 1-13 apiece – with Cork scoring the last two points of the opening period.

By the 41st minute the Rebels were 3-16 to 1-13 ahead, their rapid 2-3 volley changing the course of the game. Seán Twomey’s goal two minutes after the restart landed as a double blow on Galway’s jaw, with defender Oisín Salmon shown a second yellow card for a foul in the build-up to the strike. In one play Galway conceded a goal and lost a player.

Lehane fired home Cork’s third goal 60 seconds later. Galway were in disarray and the Rebels seized the moment during that third quarter as they established a 10-point lead by the midway point of the half.

However, Galway manager Henry Shefflin was not convinced the outcome would have been any different had Cork not burst from the traps after the interval.

“I feel Cork were probably getting the upper hand, [going down to 14 men] obviously didn’t help us and conceding those two goals so quickly after half-time obviously hurt us badly, but I’d felt that Cork had probably grabbed the initiative back from us,” he stated.

And yet there were some encouraging signs from Galway in that opening half, with Evan Niland continuing to develop as a consistent performer up top and Martin McManus looking comfortable at this level.

Still, the best performer in that opening half was Dalton, the Cork wing forward was like a magnet to the ball and caused Galway all sorts of problems with his physicality and endeavour. He moved to full forward during the second half and shook a few trees inside there as well.

“The one thing he’s doing, he’s working fierce hard for us at the moment and he’s brought that to his game,” said Ryan. “He has got himself in fantastic shape. He was left off the panel last year and he has a point to prove as well.”

Twomey’s second goal, in the 67th minute, gave Cork an 11-point advantage and sparked an exodus from the stands. But some of those Galway fans were soon turning on their heels as the decibel levels rose inside Pearse Stadium during a frantic finale.

McManus scored a goal in the last minute of normal time, Brian Concannon added another in the third minute of injury-time and then moments later Galway were awarded a penalty, for which Eoin Roche received a black card. But Kevin Cooney’s penalty wasn’t struck well and Patrick Collins saved.

Galway, who had used all their subs, were down to 13 men at that stage after Cathal Mannion limped off injured.

“Cathal was obviously out for the last few weeks with a hamstring injury, he’s been back training for the last week and a half and it tightened up,” lamented Shefflin, who added that Daithí Burke is “on his way back” from a groin injury.

As for Cork, they went down the road on top of the table.

“Galway are a good team and they came back and the crowd got behind them, but we hung on in the end and it was a super performance by our fellahs,” added Ryan. “I think if you look at Conor Lehane, he wasn’t at his best last week against Limerick but he tried like a dog. He scored 2-3 today and maybe left another few scores out there as well.”

Cork, early days, but perhaps starting to show their teeth.

GALWAY: Darach Fahy; Oisín Salmon, Gearóid McInerney, Jack Grealish; Pádraic Mannion (0-1), Joseph Cooney, Darren Morrissey; Gavin Lee, Seán Linnane; Tom Monaghan, Conor Whelan (0-2), Jason Flynn (0-1); Evan Niland (0-11, eight frees), Kevin Cooney (1-1), Martin McManus (1-3).

Subs: Cianan Fahey (0-1) for Monaghan (ht); Cathal Mannion (0-1) for Lee (43 mins); Ronan Murphy for Morrissey (53); Brian Concannon (1-0) for Flynn (58); Liam Collins (0-1, one free) for Niland (66).

CORK: Patrick Collins; Conor O’Callaghan, Eoin Downey, Eoin Roche; Cormac O’Brien, Ciarán Joyce, Tommy O’Connell; Brian Roche, Sam Quirke; Declan Dalton (0-8, two frees), Conor Lehane (2-3), Seán Twomey (2-0); Shane Kingston (0-6, four frees), Shane Barrett (0-4), Cormac Beausang (0-1).

Subs: Luke Meade for Quirke (39 mins); Brian Hayes (0-1) for Beausang (47); Conor Cahalane (0-1) for Barrett (55); Pádraig Power for Kingston (60); Colin Walsh for Roche (69).

Referee: Johnny Murphy (Limerick).