When Galway beat Cork to reach a hurling league final that was never played

Saturday evening’s Allianz HL Division 1A clash between Cork and Galway at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh is a semi-final in all but name.

While the competition has changed format this year, with the top two advancing to the final and semi-finals dispensed with, Kilkenny’s win over Limerick at the weekend ended any chances of the Shannonsiders reaching the decider.

It’s a similar situation to four years ago, when the counties met at the Páirc in the last round of regular fixtures – though, barring an unforeseen calamity, 2025 will be different to 2021 in that the league final will actually be played.

This was the second Covid-impacted year – in 2020, a final between Limerick and Clare had been played but it was baked in to the counties’ Munster SHC quarter-final. With a shortage of available weekends in the early summer of 2021, the plan was to play off the two groups in Division 1 and, if the two winners were to meet in the championship, then that game would double up as the decider.

Cork went into their game with Galway knowing that victory would put them in a good position to top the section as they trailed the Tribesmen and Tipperary by a point. With news coming that Waterford were on top against Tipp, the home side were looking good as goals from Conor Cahalane and Jack O’Connor had them 2-12 to 0-12 ahead at half-time and Patrick Horgan added a free on the restart to extend the advantage.

However, Conor Whelan’s goal, set up by Cathal Mannion, brought Galway right back into it, Joseph Cooney cutting the lead to just three with his third point of the afternoon.

While Horgan’s frees kept Cork’s noses in front, Galway were reeling them in and the switch of Mannion to centre-forward after David Burke’s introduction gave them an extra dimension. He sent over two quick points and they were level at 2-17 each when Conor Cooney scored their second goal on 52, set up by Concannon from a Fintan Burke sideline cut.

Immediately after the water-break, wing-back Pádraic Mannion put them in front for the first time but Cork came back well with two Horgan frees and Darragh Fitzgibbon’s third point. That left it 2-20 to 1-18 but Cork didn’t lead again after Fintan Burke levelled.

While Concannon’s point was answered by another from Fitzgibbon, Cathal Mannion’s goal – with David Burke the provider – was the score to fully turn the tie in Galway’s favour. Subs Niall Burke and Jason Flynn gave them a five-point cushion and that was the difference at the end, Shane O’Neill’s team winning by 3-25 to 2-23.

From a position where Cork had topped the ‘live’ table early in the second half, they ended up finishing fifth out of the six teams in Group A as Galway finished top on eight points, Waterford’s win over Tipp put them level on points with the Premier County and second on head-to-head record and Limerick similarly finished above Cork after their win over Westmeath brought them level on points with the Rebels.

With Kilkenny finishing top of Group B, the expectation would have been that a Leinster SHC meeting between them and Galway would serve as the league final but a semi-final defeat for the Tribesmen against Dublin put paid to any such notions before Waterford eliminated them in the qualifiers.

It meant that the title is listed as shared on the roll of honour – though, had Cork managed to hold on and beat Galway, their All-Ireland semi-final against Kilkenny would have had the league trophy on offer and Cork’s extra-time win would have ended the long wait since 1998.

That did not happen but there is another opportunity at hand to bridge that gap.