David Burke never lost faith when Clare turned up the heat

David Burke is at it again, speaking his mind in that most assertive tone of his.

David Burke never lost faith when Clare turned up the heat

David Burke is at it again, speaking his mind in that most assertive tone of his.

Though he probably does not care, the press clippings generated by Burke’s utterances, since being handed the Galway captaincy ahead of the 2016 season, would have been nailed onto more than one dressing room door in Thurles, Croke Park, and elsewhere.

There was his ‘a sweeper won’t win you an All-Ireland’ claim, which he actually made twice last year. He also insisted last summer that teams who operate with an extra defender are basically saying they are ‘afraid’ of the forward unit they’re coming up against. More recently, there was his ‘Kilkenny still fear us, in a way’ remark.

While the timing and accuracy of the latter were questionable, we won’t fault him for not being behind the door with his beliefs, especially when he’s regularly doing the business on the pitch.

The 28-year-old, alongside team-mate Daithí Burke, has been selected on the last three All-Star teams, as well as taking the man of the match crystal for last year’s final.

Reflecting on their narrow semi-final win over Clare, Burke said he was totally certain between the drawn and replay games that Galway would get the job done at the second time of asking.

Not even an Aron Shanagher goal three minutes from the end — the Clare sub hit the post — would have toppled the champions, according to the St Thomas’ man.

I believed during the week that we were going to do it and, to be honest, that never went away in the second half even though they got the goal(s),” asserted Burke, ahead of his fifth All-Ireland final appearance this weekend.

“And even if Shanagher got the goal that hit the post, I still think we would have brought the two points back. So, at that stage, I still thought we had enough in the tank just to finish the job — even though they came with a late rally.”

That semi-final victory continued the trend of Galway building up an early head of steam, only to fall over the finish line. Given they held a 1-15 to 0-6 lead over Kilkenny 33 minutes into the Leinster final replay, a 1-7 to 0-1 advantage over the Banner in the drawn game and a 1-9 to 0-3 lead after 21 minutes of the replay, they’ve seen fit to make life incredibly difficult for themselves. The manner in which they are flatlining mid-game has to be a concern, surely?

Burke, while a strong supporter of the new format, hinted that the increase in games — Galway had to negotiate eight fixtures to reach the decider, double the amount from 2017 — might be taking its toll.

“We know that when we are on top, we’re good. But you can’t keep that pace going for the whole 70 minutes. It’s just about managing the other team’s purple patch and trying to limit whatever scores you can. We did that well the last day, compared to other days. Just before half-time, where we didn’t get a score, Clare only got three points and we were very happy with that.

We’re working on that and trying to keep on adding scores. Where we were going well and then might dip a bit — that we can get a score or two to keep it ticking over.

“Maybe last year with less games, there was more preparation and more rest going into games, so we might have been more consistent in those games. So, maybe the reason for the dips is down to the new format, as well. Definitely, the last day, you found it tiring after the first 20 minutes; it might have been down to just the week before.”

Did Burke feel he was lucky to be still on the field at the finish given his heavy challenge on Shanagher, which saw a yellow card flashed, late on in proceedings?

“Dave McInerney took a line ball and I saw it coming across the field. I said, if I sprint like hell, the natural play might be the ball will fall out in front. I was literally there as he jumped and caught, but he just came down and I couldn’t stop, obviously. It looked worse than it was.”

No more than Micheál Donoghue, Burke, nearing the end of his ninth season in the maroon shirt, accepts they’ve yet to reach the heights scaled en route to glory in 2017.

Probably not with the free-flowing (hurling) but I think that’s down to other teams improving. I think two of the most consistent teams are probably in the final.

Teaching colleagues at St Brigid’s College, Loughrea, the Galway captain and his midfield partner Johnny Coen are acutely aware of the threat posed by the young Limerick pairing of Cian Lynch, 22, and Darragh O’Donovan, 23. The latter has regularly been chipping in from open play, as well as the odd sideline cut, while Lynch popped up with 1-1 in the semi-final win over Cork.

“Cian is a big playmaker for them and any good plays they’ve had all year, he’s been in the centre of it,” Burke observed. “I’d be always telling Johnny that if we win midfield at all, we have a great chance of winning the game. They’re playing a deep half-forward line and the half-back line are sitting. It’s suiting the two lads and Cian can attack from deep positions. It’s something we’ll have to look at.”

All-Ireland Final preview: Wildcards, huge gambles and dropping the hurley

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