Cathal Mannion stars as Galway overcome Wexford
Galway 1-29
Wexford 2-16
John Fallon reports from Pearse Stadium
CATHAL MANNION marked his 60th championship game for Galway with an exhibition of scoring as he landed 0-17 to drive Galway to an invaluable Leinster SHC win at Pearse Stadium in Salthill.
Mannion's haul, which included 11 frees, came from 19 shots at the target from the Ahascragh-Fohenagh clubman as Galway made it two wins from three in this year's championship.
Captain Conor Whelan, playing further out the field, did not score but won an enormous amount of turnovers to lay the foundation for victory.
The loss, their second in three games, leaves Wexford in serious trouble as they head into two final home games against Offaly and Kilkenny.
Galway got on top in the second quarter and were good value for their 0-15 to 0-11 interval, having played against the breeze in the opening half on a pristine surface at Pearse Stadium.
Cathal Mannion once again led the way for the Tribesmen and landed eight points, three of them from play, in that opening half, with centre-back Gavin Lee going forward to shoot a couple of excellent points from deep.
Lee Chin, yet again, led the Wexford challenge, but Keith Rossiter's men did not make use of the wind and delivered very little ball directly.
They recovered well after Brian Concannon and Mannion gave Galway an ideal start and struck the next four points to lead by 0-4 to 0-2 after seven minutes.
Galway hit back and after drawing level, they opened up a three-point lead by the end of the opening quarter before Wexford responded with efforts from Kevin Foley, Chin and Conor Hearne drawing them level after 21 minutes.
But Galway got on top after that and outscored Wexford by seven points to three from there to the break to turn around leading by 0-15 to 0-11.
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Tom Monaghan and Rory O'Connor exchanged points after the restart before O'Connor raced from deep through the Galway defence and set up Cathal Dunbar for a goal which cut the gap to 0-16 to 1-12 after 42 minutes.
Cathal Mannion wiped out that goal in just over three minutes with a fine effort from halfway, either side of two more pointed frees, while at the other end Darren Morrissey did well to deflect a goal effort from Rory O'Connor.
But Wexford got a second goal when Cian Byrne finished off a good move involving Chin, Rory O'Connor and Richie Lawlor to cut the gap to two points at 0-22 to 2-14 after 58 minutes.
Galway didn't panic and continued to pick off points with Mannion leading the way before they wrapped up the win when Conor Cooney finished a rebound to the net after Mark Fanning did well to deny Kevin Cooney.
Scorers: Galway: Cathal Mannion 0-17 (0-11f), Conor Cooney 1-0, Brian Concannon 0-2, Gavin Lee 0-2, John Fleming 0-2, Cinan Fahy 0-2, Tom Monaghan 0-2, Colm Molloy 0-1, Sean Linnane 0-1.
Wexford: Lee Chin 0-12 (0-9f, 0-1 '65), Cathal Dunbar 1-0, Cian Byrne 1-0, Jack O'Connor 0-1, Kevin Foley 0-1, Conor Hearne 0-1, Rory O'Connor 0-1.
Galway:
1. Darach Fahy (Ardrahan)
2. Pádraic Mannion (Ahascragh-Fohenagh)
3. Fintan Burke (St. Thomas')
4. Darren Morrissey (Sarsfields)
5. Cianán Fahy (Ardrahan)
6. Gavin Lee (Clarinbridge)
7. TJ Brennan (Clarinbridge)
8. David Burke (St. Thomas')
9. Tom Monaghan (Craughwell)
10. John Fleming (Meelick-Eyrecourt)
12. Tiernan Killeen (Loughrea)
13. Conor Whelan (Kinvara)
11. Cathal Mannion (Ahascragh-Fohenagh)
14. Brian Concannon (Killimordaly)
15. Colm Molloy (Kilnadeema-Leitrim)
Substitutes:
26. Anthony Burns (Loughrea) for Molloy (55)
23. Kevin Cooney (Sarsfields) for Killeen (55)
20. Seán Linnane (Turloughmore) for Fleming (60)
24. Conor Cooney (St. Thomas') for Concannon (66)
21. Ronan Glennon (Mullagh) for Burke (69)
Wexford:
1. Mark Fanning (Glynn-Barntown)
5. Conor Foley (Horeswood)
3. Liam Ryan (Rapparees)
7. Eoin Ryan (St. Anne's Rathangan)
10. Richie Lawlor (Faythe Harriers)
6. Damien Reck (Oylegate-Glenbrien)
9. Charlie McGuckin (Naomh Éanna)
4. Simon Donohoe (Shelmaliers)
8. Conor Hearne (Shelmaliers)
20. Jack O'Connor (St. Martin's)
17. Séamus Casey (Oylegate-Glenbrien)
13. Cathal Dunbar (Naomh Éanna)
12. Kevin Foley (Rapparees)
11. Lee Chin (Faythe Harriers)
14. Rory O'Connor (St. Martin's)
Substitutes:
26. Conor McDonald (Naomh Éanna) for Casey (50)
15. Cian Byrne (St. Mogue's Fethard) for J O'Connor (53)
22. Jack Redmond (Rathnure St. Anne's) for Lawlor (58)
21. Cian Molloy (Naomh Éanna) for McGuckin (67)
Referee: Thomas Walsh (Waterford).
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The feedback I got from the 13 student athletes was that, yeah, there's someone there and to be honest, I didn't meet them every week. But if I needed them, he was there.' Whelan's day job is in occupational health and wellbeing with the Castle construction group. His PhD was always going to delve into some aspect of mental health: ever since his cousin, the Galway defender Niall Donohue, died by suicide in 2013, Whelan has continually immersed himself in that world. All going well, his PhD will form a template for the Gaelic Players Association (GPA) and other organisations to use to help student athletes manage their mental health and wellbeing from here on out. Galway captain David Burke, Kilbeacanty chairman Justin Fahy, Shane Donohue, brother of the late Niall Donohue, Galway hurler Conor Whelan, cousin of Niall, and Niall's father, Francis Donohue. Photograph: Joe O'Shaughnessy 'Initially, I kind of just wanted to understand it better. I suppose after my cousin had passed away, I was kind of pushed into that space a little bit and I was like, 'If I'm going to be in this space, I want to really understand it and be able to offer actual tangible advice rather than just regurgitate other stuff you read.' '[Niall's death] is definitely a factor. I've been fortunate enough that I have also done a masters in psychology. I have been very interested in alcohol and addiction and spent some time volunteering in Cuan Mhuire [rehabilitation organisation] for six or seven months. I've always been interested in that concept of mental health and how far out it goes, what it delves into and all the different strands that affect it. 'And yeah, obviously Niall would be a factor in that. Unfortunately, he experienced acute mental illness. I suppose as a direct consequence of that, my view on mental health is that it's not as abstract as people sometimes make it sound. There's always factors in the background that can influence it. 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'And being off the grid – I can remember being on the east coast of America with one of my best friends and you're travelling for five hours on a Greyhound bus and you've no signal or anything. You're not getting emails about work or anything like that. When you're there, you're there. 'That is definitely, in the modern world, one of the things I love the most about it. Just being completely there. Like, I don't buy a Sim card in a new country. If I happen to go to a place that has wifi, great. And if I don't, fine. I'm just here. 'Every day I was over in Japan, I was just literally heading off and my sole objective was, 'I'm going to go here today. I have no idea where I'm going but I'm going to just explore this place and see what's the crack with it.' And you're just going out and you're literally people-watching in a cafe. You're watching people go to their normal work dressed as full anime characters or whatever.' He doesn't train when he goes away. He doesn't bring a hurley. He might get a run in somewhere but it won't bother him if he doesn't. He gets on a flight and leaves his life behind, the better to see what he can see. 'It's really interesting from a mental health point of view to go to these places and see how they approach things. Places like Japan and South Korea have massive challenges around mental health. I couldn't get over how much time they spend on their phones. 'In Japan, they have a suicide forest down around Mount Fuji that's very famous. I was in South Korea and they have a really terrible work-life balance there. Just being in these countries shapes your perspective and changes it.' Conor Whelan of Galway in action in the Leinster SHC game between Galway and Antrim at Pearse Stadium on May 17th. Photograph: James Lawlor/Inpho And when he comes back, he's a hurler again. He's Conor Whelan, Galway's best and most reliable forward. Micheál Donoghue used 40 players in the 2025 league campaign – only Tom Monaghan and Cianan Fahy played more minutes than Whelan. He's carried his bat through the Leinster championship too – only getting a rest for the last half-hour against Antrim when Galway were well out the gap. 'It's been very enjoyable. Micheál brings such positivity to the group and, in fairness, he's given everyone a chance. He played 40 players in the league and I think he's up around 30 in the championship as well. 'I've been part of groups before that have had that idea starting out but once you lose one or two games, have reverted to type. But he hasn't done that. It's really good to see young lads coming through and getting their chance.' He would know. Not many have made better of it. If you are affected by any of the issues in this piece, please contact The Samaritans at 116 123 or email jo@
