Gearoid McInerney’s Galway journey should give hope to all late starters

If at first you don't succeed, buckle down and take another swing at it.

Gearoid McInerney has been around the Galway hurling scene for quite a while but has never quite nailed down a starting berth. Coming into 2017, the 26-year-old had made 17 appearances [including substitute] over three seasons. Having claimed an All-Ireland Under 21 five years ago, it was looking as if the Oranmore native would have to settle for occasional starts and chances without ever being a go-to player. All that changed this year as McInerney did enough in training sessions and challenge matches to get the nod for Galway's Allianz Leagues campaign. The defender made seven appearances as The Tribesmen claimed the league title and three more as they followed that up with success in Leinster. Now firmly ensconced, and confident, in the Galway defence, McInerney laid down a massive marker in Sunday's All-Ireland semi final win over Tipperary. Midway through the first half, with Galway leading by a point, McInerney broke onto a loose ball and thundered into Pádraic Maher and skittled him back onto the turf. It was a seismic moment and, tallied with Joe Canning laying into Michael Breen, it showed Galway would not be shrinking in front of the reigning All-Ireland champions. The performance and physicality of McInerney was a topic of excited discussion on The GAA Hour Hurling Show. Former Tipp defender Paddy Stapleton commented:

"That hit from McInerney was a serious job because Maher was kind of lining him up and he saw him coming with the ball. I was thinking 'Jesus, Paudie is going to smash him here' but it just shows the strength of McInerney. "I know people are saying that he has come out of nowhere but, jeez, I saw him hurling a couple of years ago in a challenge match and couldn't understand how he wasn't getting more game time with that particular Galway team. He looks like a good, honest player and his physicality stood out big time."

That hit was a crucial moment in the game but the Ornamore-Maree clubman should much more besides, taking a number of clean, one-handed catches and shrugging off a host of men from the Premier County in a superb defensive effort. It just goes to show that plugging away and maintaining the drive and self-belief can eventually get you the opportunity. The rest is down to you. You can hear the McInerney chat from 4:30 below: