The last thing Cathal Mannion needs any reminding about is what happened the last time Galway played Kilkenny in a Leinster hurling final. Which is perfectly understandable, because if Galway are to win this Sunday, then Mannion knows it won’t be over even as the fat lady is clearing her throat.
Conceding an injury-time goal, with no hope of recovery, can happen to any team. Not just against Kilkenny. And while Mannion wasn’t directly involved in that unforgettably chaotic endgame in Croke Park two years ago, his older brother Pádraic was.
Here’s the scene again.
Five minutes of injury time are almost up, the clock on 75:05. Galway are two points up, and jaded players from both teams are scrambling for the last grip on possession, where the Hogan Stand meets the Canal End. Clear the sliotar, anywhere at all, and it’s Galway’s Leinster title.
When it eventually pops out in front of Pádraic, now without his hurl, he simply boots it away, assuming that will be enough – just not realising Kilkenny’s Cillian Buckley is waiting for one last pounce. A quick shimmy and then his deftly aimed shot rocks the Galway net, Mannion a split second too late in his despairing dive to stop it.
It happens. Kilkenny, remember, were treated to the same fate in the Leinster semi-final in 2004, when Wexford’s Michael Jacob hit them with a last-minute goal, ending their championship interest in the process.
“It was a difficult day, disappointing obviously, the way we lost it,” says Cathal, without putting any blame whatsoever on Pádraic. “You can say the goal at the end [lost it], but how many things were thrown at him [Pádraic]?
“Anyone that knows Kilkenny knows it’ll go to 73, 74 minutes, and there’ll be no difference this Sunday. If we want to win on Sunday, you have to perform to your best. We moved on from the game fairly quickly. It’s two years ago, it’s a different team, different players to a certain extent.”
Indeed, while Pádraic is now a pillar in the Galway full-back line, Cathal is playing a different role among the forwards, including as chief free-taker. He’s Galway’s top scorer in this Leinster campaign, hitting 2-43 (28 from frees) in their five games to date.
“Whatever you’re asked to do, you’ll do it,” Mannion says, admitting the conversation with Galway manager Micheál Donoghue about taking over the frees was short and sweet. “They just said, ‘Will you take them?’ and I said, ‘I would.’ I started to practice them a lot and just started putting more time into them.
“Even for my club [Ahascragh-Fohenagh] I didn’t take too many frees, an odd time here and there, sometimes. Frees are obviously important and, particularly as the season goes on, you need to be scoring the frees.”
A secondary school teacher in his home parish, Mannion (30) is two years younger than Pádraic, and credits his return to more consistent form this season to a clear run from injury, especially a nagging problem with his Achilles tendon.
“My Achilles was at me for three years, probably. Then, as a result, I was pulling hamstrings and so on. You couldn’t get a run, and you’d feel you’re coming back, and then get another setback and whatever.
“Obviously, as a player, it’s hugely frustrating when you can’t get a run, so I had probably two years there of just on and off injuries. I got a bit of procedure done in the winter, and it’s definitely helped, cleared it up.”
Another thing Mannion doesn’t need reminding about is Galway’s recent Leinster record against Kilkenny. In their opening round-robin game back in April, Galway lost by 12 points and haven’t beaten the Cats in Leinster since their round-robin game in 2022 – losing the final to the same side a few weeks later.
Since joining Leinster in 2009, they’ve won three finals, beating Kilkenny in 2012 and 2018 (after a replay), and Wexford in 2017. Kilkenny have beaten them in the finals of 2010, ’15, ’16, ’20, ’22, and ’23 – and are going for six-in-a-row on Sunday.
“Obviously, we had a poor performance, didn’t perform as well as we wanted to against Kilkenny the first day,” says Mannion. “We’d Offaly the week after, which was probably a good thing. The games come in fairly quick, and we got a few wins, obviously, and it gives you a bit of momentum.”
Mannion also reckons Donoghue’s liberal use of the panel during the league, which touched on 40 different players, is paying dividends now. It also helps that players such as Daithí and David Burke and Conor Whelan are finding their groove again.
“Definitely. I suppose in our group now, you have younger players coming in, and you have a few experienced players. Since the league, the panel has been trimmed. Micheál and the management team, that was what they set out to do when they came in, to get a look at as many players as they could.
“As the league goes on, you mightn’t be seeing the results that you want, but when you look at the bigger picture, there’s loads of players getting games, which is definitely a huge positive. There’s huge competition there now, which is very good.”
Win or lose on Sunday, by injury-time goal or otherwise, Mannion also knows there is ultimately a bigger prize on offer.
“Obviously, you have a prize of a Leinster final, but you also have a prize going forward to an All-Ireland semi-final. When you finish up, of course you’d want to have a second or a third or as many All-Ireland medals as you can. It’s something we’d love to get back to.”
