Galway to make no mistake in Leinster final replay

Galway v Kilkenny
Semple Stadium
RTE, 3pm Sunday

Galway and Kilkenny renew rivalries at Semple Stadium after three late points from the Cats last week forced a replay of the 2018 Leinster final.

Galway were heavy favourites for that encounter but a dogged Kilkenny performance had them struggling to find any fluency.

Galway looked lacklustre throughout and their breeze through the round-robin series perhaps came back to haunt them.

They had not been seriously challenged previously and it may have been the perfect wake-up call for for Micheal Donoghue’s men.

Kilkenny, in contrast, looked battle-hardened following their tight wins over Dublin and Wexford earlier in the year, and improved drastically from their round-robin performance against Galway.

It seemed as though they had missed their chance by not winning the first game but Brian Cody’s amazing record in replays should give Kilkenny confidence. Cody has won five of six replays in his impeccable managerial career.

Galway’s plan for the last two years has focused around clever use of the ball, ability to take scores from distance and a top-class distribution to their forward line.

They seemed to go away from that as they rained high balls down on the Kilkenny defence which Padraig Walsh dealt with brilliantly throughout. Galway will need to revert to the tactics that have served them well to retain their Leinster crown and the move to Semple Stadium should help.

The tighter confines mean that the likes of Padraic Mannion and David Burke should be able to take scores from distance.

Kilkenny must be praised for their efforts last week as they handled an exciting Galway forward line and dominated the aerial battles.

They struggled to break down a solid defence, however, as Daithi Burke, who has been so solid all year, again led the Galway full-back line. Kilkenny had Walter Walsh at full-forward, which suited Burke, so they may look to pull Burke out of position this time.

TJ Reid is likely to move closer to goal but Cody may spring Richie Hogan or Colin Fennelly from the start to disrupt Burke.

Galway look like the team with more improvement in them and Kilkenny may have played most of their cards already.

Cody could have a couple of aces up his sleeve in Hogan and Fennelly but he may find it difficult to stop the Galway forward line again. Conor Whelan was quiet in the second half but he has been in flying form and he should make more of an impact.

Galway should make no mistake this time. Kilkenny are likely to put up a strong fight in the first half before Galway’s greater firepower helps them pull away in the second half.

Recommendations
Galway -3
3pts Evens BoyleSports
P Mannion over 0.5 points
2pts 6-4 BoyleSports
C Whelan man of the match
1pt 12-1 Paddy Power

Already advised July 1
Galway to win Leinster & All Ireland
1pt 6-4 BoyleSports

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