Galway’s shooting prowess outsmarts Waterford’s sweeper system.

Waterford’s sweeper system came up shot in yesterday’s All Ireland final as Galway’s sharpshooters simply took on long range shots with deadly accuracy.

Derek McGrath’s tactic of playing with an extra defender came under scrutiny from a number of commentators throughout the season but despite this, it was sufficient to lead the Déise to their first decider in nine years.

Gearóid McInerney negated Waterford talisman Austin Gleeson while Joe Canning’s ten point haul coupled with David Burke adding four points from mid field was enough to lead the Tribesmen to a first All Ireland title since 1988.

As part of our usual Monday morning GAA review we caught up with the Weekly’s Observer’s Matt O’Callaghan who says Galway’s scoring ability proved crucial.

“They seem to have perfected the art of getting points and getting them from all angles and getting them from all sources. The spread of scores amongst the Galway players yesterday was excellent. The is a whole new dynamic in Galway. There was a time for a number of years up to probably this year when they were so dependent on Joe Canning for scores but now there are so many players on this Galway team that can step up to the plate and chip in with scores.”

Waterford had used a sweeper system to great effect this season and nobody can begrudge their employment of the system as it brought them all the way to the 2017 hurling showpiece. Unfortunately for the Déise they came up against a team with vast scoring arsenal.

When Joe met Liam… pic.twitter.com/zWgUtUrsDq

— RTÉ Radio 1 (@RTERadio1) September 3, 2017

O’Callaghan also signalled Galway’s defensive efforts and progression during the year.

“Austin Gleeson will have been disappointed with his performance, he was one of the players Waterford would have looked at for inspiration. I think this has been very obvious as this year has progressed. It was even noticeable between the first and second time Galway played Limerick in the league. The most notable aspect about Galway on that occasion was how they had improved defensively.”

You can hear Matt’s review in full on the link below.