CHAMPIONSHIP 2002: Galway manager Noel Lane admitted yesterday that being drawn against Down in tomorrow's All-Ireland first round qualifier has done little to improve the county's unique situation in championship hurling.
Under the new qualifier system introduced this year, Galway were guaranteed another chance should they lose in the first round. Unless Down, the beaten Ulster finalists, spring a major surprise in Casement Park tomorrow Galway won't have had a truly competitive game before meeting one of higher-profile counties at the knock-out stage.
"I don't want to disrespect Down in any way," said Lane, "but I would have preferred if we were drawn against one of the beaten Munster teams, or else Offaly. It means we're slipping on the chance to have had two potentially big games before the third round.
"We'll just have to deal with it, and, of course, we're still treating Down the same as any other championship game. But it means we're no different to previous years in that we could be going into the knock-out round without knowing much about ourselves."
Round two of the qualifiers, set for June 29th, will only take place if Galway are beaten and require a second game. The likelihood now is that they will go into the third round qualifiers on July 13th, which is certain to involve six leading counties. The three winners there will join be joined by the Ulster champions to give two All-Ireland quarter-finals on July 28th.
"It's obvious that one of the beaten Munster teams would have been a bigger test for us. We're still delighted with the new system because it means we're out in June rather than waiting around until August, but the system hasn't really kicked in for us this year.
"Maybe it does need to be seeded so that we meet a strong county in the first round. We're still in a unique situation in Galway and if we had drawn Clare or Limerick or Cork I think we would have learned a lot more about ourselves.
"But again we're taking Down very seriously. We know they're going to be riled up after some comments that were made about the draw at the weekend. We have a massive five-hour journey on the morning of the game, plus we have our injury problems, so we're treating it as we would any other game."
Certainly Lane has named his strongest possible side. Although defender Gregory Kennedy and forward Kevin Broderick were both ruled out with groin injuries, and Joe Rabbitte is sidelined with a hand in plaster, 12 of the team that fell to Tipperary in last year's All-Ireland final are set to start.
Eugene Cloonan is certain to fill the vacant full-forward position as he recovers from a back injury. Rory Gantley returns to midfield, while defender Damien Joyce and forward Damien Hayes get championship debuts.
"I suppose Damien Joyce has come out of the blue," said Lane, "but I was very impressed with his form for Waterford IT in the Fitzgibbon Cup this year, and he's also being going very well in training."
Meanwhile, it was confirmed yesterday that RTÉ are broadcasting live the Dublin-Clare hurling qualifier tomorrow from Parnell Park (6.15 p.m., Network 2). It was also announced that the following Sunday (June 23rd) the live coverage will be the Cork-Limerick hurling qualifier (2.40 p.m.), followed by the Leinster football semi-final between Dublin and Meath (4.30 p.m.).
