Micheál Donoghue leads Galway back to Dublin for make-or-break duel

The Micheál Donoghue derby gets its latest everything-on-the-line airing this weekend when Galway and Dublin meet in the decisive final round of games in the Leinster senior hurling championship.

In the corresponding fixture in 2019 Dublin eliminated Galway from the championship following a 3-19 to 0-24 win at Parnell Park, a result that also ultimately marked the end of Donoghue’s first spell in charge of the Tribesmen.

Then just 12 months ago Donoghue masterminded a Dublin victory over his native Galway at Pearse Stadium – a feisty encounter in which David Burke was sent off and members of both management teams were involved in heated exchanges.

That 2-27 to 1-24 victory propelled Dublin to a Leinster final while the result dumped Galway out of the championship and would prove to be Henry Sheffin’s last game at the helm.

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Micheál Donoghue leads Galway back to Dublin for make-or-break duel

Some 14 weeks later Galway announced Donoghue was returning for a second stint as manager of the Tribesmen.

The Clarinbridge clubman had been appointed Dublin hurling manager for a three-year term but stepped away after two seasons and immediately filled the vacancy left by Shefflin in Galway.

Donoghue returns to Parnell Park on Sunday for the first time since leaving the capital’s hurlers, with the round-five clash essentially a playoff for a Leinster final spot.

His record in total (Walsh Cup, National League, championship) as a manager in Galway-Dublin games reads: Won six, lost six, drew one.

Michael Donoghue shakes hands with Dublin's Mattie Kenny after a costly defeat in 2019. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho

He was Galway boss for eight of those 13 matches – winning five and losing three. As Dublin manager he won one, lost three and drew one.

And while that championship victory over Galway last summer was the outstanding result of his tenure with Dublin, the 2019 Leinster SHC win in Parnell Park probably resonates more with Dublin hurling folk.

With Wexford and Kilkenny drawing on that same night, all four teams finished the group with five points, but Galway were eliminated on scoring difference.

Alan Nolan was the Dublin goalkeeper that evening six summers ago.

“As a team we hadn’t really beaten anybody of note,” recalls Nolan. “We had beaten Laois and Carlow and so on but we hadn’t managed to get a victory against one of the really top teams.

“We had run Kilkenny close at Parnell Park in 2018 but just didn’t come out on top so there was a feeling if we lost again it would be one of those things that would follow us around, ‘You can’t beat anybody of note in an important game’.

“It was driven by the team, Mattie Kenny was the Dublin manager at the time and so there was that Galway attachment and the possibility of Mattie putting his own county out, so the players themselves really decided we needed to go out and take a big scalp.

“Galway were one of the best teams in the country, they had won the All-Ireland in 2017 and were beaten in the final in 2018, so it was a big game for us.”

Dublin's Seán Moran scores a goal from a penalty against Galway at Parnell Park in 2019. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho

Oisín O’Rorke was faultless from frees that evening while Eamonn Dillon, Seán Moran and Chris Crummey scored the all-important goals. Midway through the second half, and with Dublin trailing by one, Nolan drilled over the score of the game, a sensational point hit from between his own 20- and 45-metre lines.

“It was one of those scores that when you look back at it, if you missed you would have been the worst in the world because Conal Keaney was out in front of me all on his own, so thankfully it went over,” recalls the 2014 All-Star nominated goalkeeper.

The final whistle in 2019 was greeted with a pitch invasion.

“I remember people coming up and saying, ‘You have knocked Galway out of the championship’ but we didn’t care, all we were interested in was that we got a result for ourselves,” continues Nolan.

The St Brigid’s clubman is delighted to see Dublin playing their home matches at Parnell Park again.

“Dublin played some of their games under Micheál in Croke Park but Niall Ó Ceallacháin has the lads back in Parnell Park and you can see they are relishing playing there,” says Nolan.

“You could see the atmosphere for the games against Offaly and Wexford, so I think it is all set up for a great game this Sunday.

“There is all that stuff in the background with Micheál coming back to Dublin and after putting Galway out last year too. So there are plenty of sideshows but I would imagine the lads will be leaving all that aside and just trying to get a result that hopefully sees Dublin progress to the Leinster final.”