Galway and Clare will meet again after an epic extra-time All-Ireland semi-final ended level at Croke Park. The teams were level nine times in front of an enthralled crowd of 54,191 and could not be separated in over 90 minutes of intense action. The Tribesmen had looked to be walking away with it early on as they eased into a nine-point lead inside 15 minutes, helped by Conor Cooney’s goal. Clare settled into the game however and the gap was just four at the interval, 1-10 to 0-09 in favour of the reigning champions. The sides were neck and neck through the second-half, but the Banner needed a late free from Peter Duggan to make it 1-23 to 0-26 and force extra-time. The Munster finalists looked to be in the driving seat when Aron Shanagher’s goal in the second extra period put them in front for the first time but, and with Gearoid McInerney and Joe Canning off the field injured, Galway showed the grit of champions to pull ahead once again. Johnny Coen must have thought he had won it in the 92nd minute but, with the last puck of the game, Clare substitute Jason McCarthy secured a deserved draw. Jason Mc Carthy makes it all square to bring it to a replay after extra-time. pic.twitter.com/c2jIZqp8zQ — The GAA (@officialgaa) July 28, 2018 Galway had threatened to settle the contest within the opening quarter of an hour. The Tribesmen had done their homework on Clare’s short puck-out strategy and Donal Tuohy was intercepted three times early on, leading to points for Joe Canning and Conor Whelan and a goal chance that Johnny Glynn flashed wide as Tuohy came off his line to make amends. Conor Cooney was back in the team and looked to have a point to prove, following up a towering high catch and score with a lovely flick to Coen that the midfielder converted. Both sides lined out with two-man full-forward lines and while John Conlon and Shane O’Donnell were starved of possession, Glynn and Cooney were causing havoc every time a high delivery landed near the Clare square. In the 15th minute, Galway took advantage as four defenders foostered over the sliotar and Cooney buried the ball to the net from close range. It was 1-07 to 0-1 and Clare’s goose already looked cooked. But they fought back admirably. David Reidy got their first point in 16 minutes and that was followed by efforts from O’Donnell, a Tony Kelly howitzer from his own 65 and consistent free-taking from Peter Duggan. Galway started to miss the target, hitting 12 first-half wides in all, three of which were confirmed by Hawk-Eye. Duggan’s catch from a puck-out, all too rare from his side in the half, and clever hop-off the ground before pointing narrowed the gap to two, but Cathal Mannion and Glynn got the final scores of the half to make it 1-10 to 0-09 at the interval. Canning began the second half with the first of his two masterful sideline cuts before John Conlan started to find his groove, aided by O’Donnell and Duggan. The Hurler of the Year contender had barely been seen the ball in the opening period but he stormed into action upon the restart and helped Clare back into contention with a brace from play. Clare were now within a single score – 1-12 to 0-14 – but David Burke burst through from midfield twice as Galway hit back with four on the bounce. Colm Galvin, effectively employed as a sweeper, and a towering catch and point from Duggan cut the gap before Conlan tied it up as McInerney hobbled off on the far sideline. Galway edged two clear once more as Conor Whelan and Canning dispatched identical stunners from right on the left sideline. Clare came again. Cathal Mannion added his fourth from play to put Galway one up – 1-20 to 0-22 before Duggan scored the point of the day, juggling the ball one handed and tapping over despite the close attention of three backs. The champions made another surge. Canning, substitute Niall Burke and captain David Burke, with his third score. With four minutes to play, the Tribesmen looked on course for the final Clare however simply refused to die. Kelly matched Canning’s feat from the sideline, Conlan added his fourth from play and with 30 seconds of the three additional minutes to play, Duggan tied it up from a free - 1-23 to 0-26. There was still time for Coen to drop a tame effort into Tuohy’s hands and David Burke to make a superb block on Conor McGrath before James Owens signalled the end of normal time. The tempo understandably dropped in the first period of extra-time, Galway edging ahead again thanks to three points from Canning, including a superb second from a sideline, as Clare racked up five wides and scored just once. But with Canning off the pitch, after jarring his knee, the game exploded back into life on the resumption. Substitute Aron Shanagher, making his first appearance since a cruciate-ligament injury last November, gathered a high ball and rattled the net with his opening touch to put Clare in front for the first time. GOAL Clare Aron Shanagher scores a fine effort, perfectly fielding a hopeful ball before smashing home from close range. Watch highlights on The Sunday Game at 9:30pm on RTE 2 tomorrow pic.twitter.com/btS774D0qJ — The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) July 28, 2018 Jason Flynn hit back immediately, however, and Galway missed a great goal chance when Glynn bulldozed through the middle only for Flynn to miscontrol the pass and have to settle for a point. Galway were denied for a fourth time by Hawk-Eye and there was nothing between them again going into injury-time. Coen’s point looked to have clinched it for the holders before McCarthy popped up and secured a deserved draw for Clare at the death. A remarkable exhibition of point-scoring and determination from both sides, who will do it all again in Thurles next Sunday. Galway: James Skehill; Adrian Tuohy, Daithi Burke, John Hanbury; Padraic Mannion, Gearoid McInerney, Aidan Harte; Johnny Coen (0-2), David Burke (0-3); Joseph Cooney, Joe Canning (0-12, 6f, 2 s-l), Jonathan Glynn (0-1); Conor Whelan (0-3), Conor Cooney (1-1), Cathal Mannion (0-04). Subs: Niall Burke (0-1) for J Cooney (52 mins), Paul Killeen for McInerney (53), Jason Flynn (0-3, 1f) for C Cooney (62), Davey Glennon for Canning (82), J Cooney for David Burke (82), C Cooney for Whelan (81). Clare: Donal Tuohy; Patrick O’Connor, David McInerney, Jack Browne; Seadna Morey, Conor Cleary, Jamie Shanahan; Colm Galvin (0-1), Cathal Malone; Peter Duggan (0-14, 11f), Tony Kelly (0-3, 1 s-l), David Reidy (0-1); Padraic Collins, John Conlon (0-4), Shane O’Donnell (0-3). Subs: David Fitzgerald (0-1) for Malone (48), Conor McGrath for Collins (58), Ian Galvin (0-2) for Reidy (61), Aron Shanagher (1-0) for O’Donnell (67), Jason McCarthy (0-1) for Shanahan (82), O’Donnell for McGrath (82). Referee: James Owens (Wexford)<doc-sep>Major reschedule needed if RTE want to show live footage of Clare vs. Galway replay The GAA and RTE both face a potential headache when it comes to the All-Ireland hurling semi-final replay. Galway and Clare could not be separated after extra time in a pulsating afternoon in Croke Park which ended on a scoreline of 1-30 apiece. The replay will take place at Semple Stadium, Thurles on Sunday, August 5, with the throw-in time set for 2pm. The problem is that next Sunday also marks the final round of the Super 8 series, the football championships newly formed round-robin system. Donegal take on Tyrone in what will be a straight shootout for a place in the semi-finals, whilst Dublin host Roscommon on the same day. The two matches are to be televised on RTE1 and RTE2 respectively. Both games throw in at 3.30pm which means, as it stands there is no way RTE can televise the hurling. Only Sky Sports would be able to. Now, imagine the consternation if an All-Ireland hurling semi-final weren't to be shown by the country's national broadcaster. The hurling purists would be out for blood. Of course, the likelihood is that the GAA will push back the football. A 4pm throw-in may potentially fix the problem. However, if yesterday's titanic battle is anything to go by, extra-time could well be on the cards down in Thurles. Advertisement If the two football games where to be put back until 5pm this would rule out any chance of the games crossing over, but then you are left with a sizeable gap in between that would need to be filled. Another method is to scrap plans to televise Dublin v Roscommon in Croke Park as the game is effectively a dead rubber match. The Dubs have already topped the group, whilst Roscommon have been eliminated from the series. This, however, would not go down well with fans of either county. The last thing RTE want is to have to make a decision if the hurling goes to extra time again. Sky Sports faced this issue head on earlier in the season when Tyrone's qualifier tie with Meath was forced into extra-time, which resulted in hurling fans missing the opening 20 minutes of Kilkenny's clash with Wexford in the Leinster hurling championships. We await word on what will happen...<doc-sep>
The reason the Clare v Galway game won't be played on Bank Holiday Monday Perhaps the emboldened GAA population is just enjoying sticking it to The Man. Perhaps they're still, even after all the strifes, being persecuted. The biggest problem with a lot of the issues that have surfaced this year is that they have been so avoidable. They've been so avoidable and it's the normal, lay person suffering the consequences every time. The latest is the fixing of the Clare and Galway replay for Thurles. Over 51,000 hurling fanatics travelled from the west for Saturday evening's thriller. They braved torrential roads and enjoyed game day under the pouring rain and, after what unfolded in that first semi-final, the demand for the second and final outing is even greater now. The accommodation, however, less modest. The demand goes up, the supply goes down. Back to this again https://t.co/W94zRHgL4Q — SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) July 28, 2018 So, despite murmurs that the game would be moved to headquarters from Thurles, the GAA are ploughing on. If the match was to take place on Saturday, it'd clash with the Galway footballers' home Super 8 game. If it was on Sunday - which it is - it can't be played at Croke Park because Dublin footballers are playing there - in their home venue, back to another problem. So all that brought people to the next logical question. Why not the Monday? Why not the Bank Holiday Monday at Croker? Clarifying that query for Clare FM, the GAA explained that they avoid Bank Holiday fixtures if they can. "We don't use Bank Holidays unless we have to because of traffic etc. Also, it's not a Bank Holiday in the north." There would, of course, be interest from Gaels in the north to attend such games and if they were deprived that opportunity - Monday isn't a Bank Holiday in six counties - there's another grievance to deal with. But the fact that Clare and Galway natives are being deprived is a more pressing matter right now and, as sound as it is for the GAA to consider the north, they didn't seem to care too much last year when Roscommon and Mayo were sent to Croke Park on the Bank Holiday Monday. Besides, those from Derry, Antrim, Armagh, Down, Tyrone and Fermanagh would have a tough enough task, like everyone else, getting a ticket for Thurles. In response to a @ClareFM query, the #GAA say because it's not a Bank Holiday in the North next Monday, they couldn't fix Clare v Galway in Croke Park on that day. "We don't use Bank Holidays unless we have to because of traffic etc. Also, it's not a Bank Holiday in the north." — Derrick Lynch (@DLynchSport) July 30, 2018 The GAA might argue that they had to use the Monday last year in the Mayo/Roscommon instance because Dublin played Monaghan on the Saturday and an All-Ireland semi-final in the hurling took place on the Sunday. But just over 39,000 people made the journey from Roscommon and Mayo for the match on the Monday so it wasn't, as the excuse would presumably suggest, a necessity. Inconsistencies with the administration won't come as a great deal of a surprise to many but the biggest slap in the face is that none of the decision-makers seem to understand that they should "have to" move the game to the Monday in this case anyway because the current venue cannot satisfy the demand. More people - your people - want to watch the game than is being allowed and there's an alternative available. More people will be screwed over than there needs to be. If that isn't a reason to "have to" act, what is?