Galway 1-20 Tipperary 1-18
Conor Whelan was the difference as Galway came good to knock Tipperary out of the Championship once again.
In truth, Henry Shefflin’s side had miles the better of this Gaelic Grounds fare but as they often do, they left a ragged Tipperary team in the game.
This could have been perceived as a case of white-line-fever from Galway, unsurprising of course, given the cruel nature of their Leinster final defeat to Kilkenny.
But Tipperary just weren’t good enough to capitalise on Galway’s jitters as, eventually, men like Daithà Burke, Cathal Mannion, Sean Linnane and Thomas Monaghan won the battle for the men from the west.
Tipperary got their chance, with 61 minutes gone, when John McGrath capitalised on some dilly-dallying from Gearoid McInerney to score the goal that left just one point between them.
But Evan Niland replied almost instantly and while Liam Cahill’s team battled gamely late on, their confidence was clearly down and they never looked like cutting Galway open.
Indeed, whether it was a case of the Tipperary players failing to implement the game-plan, or, on the other hand, the case of a game-plan gone wrong,  one thing you couldn’t but notice was Tipp’s persistence with long, hopeful balls into forwards who aren’t known for winning them.
Galway deserve some credit on this front, however, as their in-your-face-tackling stopped Tipperary getting into any slick rhythm of passing.
Henry Shefflin did say afterwards that his team wanted to make this game into more of a battle than a shoot-out. They certainly succeeded in that.
That being said, you would expect that Limerick would have found a way to get the passing game going, and this realisation will surely cause some soul-searching in Tipperary.
A gasp of nerves and anticipation engulfed the Gaelic Grounds then as, with one last roll of the dice, Rhys Shelly bombed a late free down on top of the Galway square.
Henry Shefflin may have been fearing a case of Deja-Vu, Liam Cahill will have been praying for it but Galway’s defence stood firm before John Keenan blew his final whistle.
They were well deserving of the win and even the most blinkered Tipperary supporter couldn’t argue otherwise.
After the game, Galway manager Henry Shefflin hailed his side’s character and resilience.
“I feel we were the better team,” said the Kilkenny man.
“One thing I’m very immensely proud of is that character and resilience has been thrown at this group a lot. The sucker-punch we got in the Leinster final was very difficult.
"The last couple of minutes there, you're thinking back to the Leinster final. But that was in the lads' minds as well – that that wasn't going to happen today."
Galway manager Henry Shefflin had confidence his side could come through today's late scare against Tipp.#RTEgaa pic.twitter.com/DhufsM1bJi— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) June 24, 2023
Shefflin then praised his whole panel – the extended panel in particular – for their commitment during a challenge game last Friday night in Clare.
“And I want to thank the panel of players,” he said, “we went last Friday night down to Clare, and all our subs played a challenge game, and it was wonderful to see – none of our players that played the Leinster final were there, but I came out of that night saying, do you know what, we’re going to go up against Tipp and we’re going to get a performance.”
“That’s the resolve that’s in the group, and the resilience. Yes the hurling can be better, but what do you look for first? Character. And these lads have showed great spirit over the last couple of weeks.”
Meanwhile, man-of-the-match Conor Whelan said that the team never stopped believing despite that cruel loss to the cats.
“Perspective is everything,” he said tellingly.
“We knew we had another chance. This was always going to be a huge test for us, but I believed in the character in this team.”
They certainly showed every ounce of it today.
Tipperary
R. Shelly; C. Barrett, M. Breen, E. Connolly; B. O’Mara, R. Maher (0-1), D. McCormack; C. Stakelum, N. McGrath (c); A. Tynan (0-2), J. Forde (0-12, 0-10f), S. Kennedy (0-2); J. Morris, S. Callanan, M. Kehoe.
Subs: G O’Connor (0-1) for Callanan (HT), C Bowe for M. Kehoe, J. Ryan (0-1) for Stakelum (50) J McGrath (1-0) for N McGrath (53) Jack Ryan for Tynan (70)
Galway
E. Murphy; J. Grealish, G. McInerney, D. Morrissey; P. Mannion, D. Burke (c) (0-1), J. Cooney (0-1); S. Linnane, C. Mannion; B. Concannon, C. Fahy (0-1), R. Glennon (0-1); C. Whelan (1-4), K. Cooney, E. Niland (0-8, 0-7f)
Subs: T. Monaghan (0-3) for R. Glennon (48) C. Cooney for B. Concannon (53) J. Flynn for K. Cooney (61) F. Burke for McInerney (64)
