Cunningham never lost faith in Galway players

THERE was a chance that Anthony Cunningham’s final game as Galway manager would be their capitulation against Tipperary last summer when his team coughed up 2-10 in the final 20 minutes. But he didn’t want to end on that note. He knew there was more in this Galway side. ‘I would still always be interested and said that very early after the Tipp match,’ Cunningham recalled ahead of their semi-final against the same opposition tomorrow. ‘A lot of it is work-inprogress. If you look at the team now, there are quite a lot of new players there.’ Even the fact that he had to re-apply did not bother him. ‘In fairness, they [the county board] set out their stall,’ he admitted. ‘They will say it is a three-year term with a review after two years, or whatever. That allows others to put up their hand, but as long as there is progress with the team and everyone is enjoying it, that’s the main thing.’ This summer has been the first season that Galway have made discernible progress since 2012 when they came within a puck of a ball of claiming the AllIreland title. That was Cunningham’s first year, which was defined by the Leinster final when they usurped Brian Cody’s Kilkenny with a display of power and precision. It has been hard to climb back to those heights. As ever with Galway, inconsistency is at the root of their problems. Tipperary have had the upper hand against Galway in recent years, both in League and Championship. Galway were in control last summer and completely fell apart, although mental fatigue was a factor in that it was their third game in just 13 days. ‘Absolutely, it was frustrating last year, there’s no doubt,’ Cunningham admitted. ‘We had the winning of the match but switched off in the last 10 or 15 minutes. We had put ourselves in a super position.’ Even in the League match in March, Galway panicked and conceded soft goals against the Tipp attack. ‘In the second half of that League game, it was an example of a game that was in our hands to win and we just panicked a small bit. That comes with lack of experience. The same in the Kilkenny match. We did have the chances. But overall, the graph is going the right way. You have to keep improving every day.’ Cunningham is encouraged by the way Waterford stifled Tipp in the Munster final and realises that stopping Séamus Callanan (right) and ‘Bubbles’ O’Dwyer from finding the net is key to tomorrow’s match. ‘The big test for us is to cut down the concession of goals. Tipp have two of the best inside-forwards in the game, Callanan and O’Dwyer, they are on a par with the best that Kilkenny have. And Tipp beat us with goals last year, so we are aware of that threat. It will come down to that.’ Galway will be encouraged that Joe Canning is unlikely to hit eight wides again — as he did against Cork — although Cunningham defended his talisman’s display. ‘I thought in general Joe did very well. He was unfortunate with a couple of wides, they were very close, but when you analyse it, he was involved in a lot of play. Joe is so driven that he will want to improve. ‘He’s not going to get every score every day, we have others there now so it has become quite even.’ The emergence of Johnny Glynn, Cathal Mannion and Jason Flynn means the Tribesmen are no longer depending on Canning to piggy-back them through games. It ensures Cunningham’s team are a much more dangerous proposition ahead of this All-Ireland semi-final.