What a start for the JCs.
Joe Canning lit the touch paper with a cracking opening score, Johnny Coen followed in hot pursuit, and Joseph Cooney, he was just keeping the trend going.
With the Joe Canning-owned Camile Thai offering free meals for all those with JC initials if Galway win, the Galway boys’ hunger was never going to be a question.
On a more serious note, Galway started as they meant to go on, reeling off six beautiful scores with Cathal Mannion and David Burke following suit.
Waterford soon fired back, though, with Kevin Moran, a man who confessed his love for an eve of match cold shower, scoring one of the most incredible goals we’ve seen all year, as he cleverly placed the ball to an unreachable corner of Colm Callanan’s net.
Did Shane Bennett get a touch, or is it his brother's goal? Highlights tonight on @RTE2 #GalvWat #RTEGAA pic.twitter.com/AxPYfNIwKF
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) September 3, 2017
The first six and a half minutes of the game were pure hurling. It was two teams going at it hammer and tongs in pursuit of that O’Neill’s size five.
There was no dirt, there was no delays, there wasn’t even a free given.
Think about that, six minutes of pure attrition, and Fergal Horgan didn’t even have to blow his whistle.
Would you see that in Gaelic football? Not a chance.
It was free-flowing hurling, it was clean, it was crisp, it was end to end, it was beautiful to watch and it just summed up why we love the game so much.
There was no stops, there were no starts. There was no cards, there was no need.
That has to be the most incredible start to an All-Ireland final. First free after six and a half minutes. No wides
— ConorMcKeon (@ConorMcKn) September 3, 2017
On the biggest day of many of these players’ careers, they could have been excused for nerves, for mistakes.
They didn’t give away a free, they didn’t hit a ball wide.
https://twitter.com/Daniel_G333/status/904359091442786307
That was the pattern of the first half, as Galway notched long range score after long range score, but Waterford were picking them off for points, and in the 22nd minute, a fluky goal came the way of the Déise.
Shane Bennett displayed typical bravery and defiance as he somehow managed to get his hurl to a hopeless long range delivery to upset Colm Callanan and restore parity for Derek McGrath’s men.
No need for a ref in this game at all! Great hard hurling #GalvWat
— Seamus Gannon (@SeamusGannon) September 3, 2017
Such was the discipline of the Waterford defence that the first offensive free they conceded came in the 24th minute, and was 105 yards out from goal.
Fergal Horgan left his whistle at home. Best reffed game this year.
— Kevin Coleman (@kvn_clmn) September 3, 2017
By the half-hour mark, there was only one free scored between the two sides, with the scoreline 0-10 to 2-04.
After a blistering 35 minutes, Waterford went into the half-time break the happier, because, despite Galway’s ascendancy, they went in only one point down.
