Joe Canning

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Joe Canning
Personal information
Sport	Hurling
Irish Name	Seosamh Ó Cainín
Full name	Joseph Canning
Place of birth	Portumna , County Galway
Nickname(s)	Joe
Club information
Club	Portumna
Position	Forward
Inter-County
County	Galway
Position	Forward
Inter-County(ies)**
County	Years	Apps (scores)
Galway	2008-
Senior Inter-County Titles
Connacht Titles	0
All-Ireland	0
* club appearances and scores correct as of . **Inter County team apps and scores correct as of .

Joe Canning (born November, 1988 in Portumna, County Galway) is an Irish sportsperson. He plays hurling with his local club Portumna and with the Galway under-21 and senior inter-county teams. Canning is generally considered as the brightest prospect of the modern game and is noted for his accuracy from dead balls and ball winning ability. One of his most notable skills is his ability to score points from side line balls, considered one of the more difficult skills of the game.^[1]

Contents 1 Playing career 1.1 Club 1.2 University 1.3 Inter-county 1.3.1 Minor 1.3.2 Under 21 1.3.3 Senior 2 References

[edit] Playing career

[edit] Club

Canning plays his club hurling with his local Portumna club and has enjoyed much success along with his brother Ollie. He won his first senior county title in 2005 before later collecting his first Connacht club title. Canning later lined out in his first All-Ireland club final with Newtownshandrum providing the opposition. Even as a seventeen year old he played an instrumental role in Portumna's win, managing to score 1-6 in the game. As a result of this he was also presented with the Man of the Match award^[2]. 2007 saw Canning capture a second set of county and Connacht club titles before later lining out in the All-Ireland final once again. Birr, the most successful team in the history of the club championship, provided the opposition, however, Canning chipped in with ten points to secure a second All-Ireland title in three years.

[edit] University

In 2007 Canning was studying at the Limerick Institute of Technology when he became a key member of the college's senior hurling team. That year the team defeated near local rivals from the University of Limerick to capture the Fitzgibbon Cup title. In 2008 Canning played for LIT once again as they hoped to retain their title. In spite of Cannings coring 1-16 of LIT's total, he still ended up on the losing side. GAA President Nickey Brennan described it as the "best game of hurling he has ever seen, if not better".^[3]

[edit] Inter-county

[edit] Minor

Canning first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Galway minor hurling team in 2004. He was just fifteen years old. The men from the West reached the All-Ireland final that year where they played Kilkenny. The game ended in a draw, however, Galway won the replay giving Canning a first All-Ireland minor medal.^[4] In 2005 Canning captured a second consecutive All-Ireland medal as Galway defeated LImerick in the minor championship decider.^[5] In 2006 Canning was captain of a Galway minor team attempting to capture an historic third All-Ireland minor title in-a-row. Furthermore, Canning was hoping to equal Jimmy Doyle's record of winning three minor championships in-a-row. On the day Galway were defeated by a stronger Tipperary side.

[edit] Under 21

2006 also saw Canning make his debut on the Galway under-21 team. He came on as a substitute in the All-Ireland semi-final against Kilkenny. Despite scoring 2-4, with 2-3 coming from play and ending up as the the game's top scorer, Galway were easily defeated in a one sided contest.^[6] In 2007 Canning was a key feature of the under-21 team as Galway captured the All-Ireland under-21 title.

[edit] Senior

After his exploits at minor level, if not u-21 the call frequently came for Canning to join the Galway senior team. He was a late call up to the team for the Tribesmen's make or break All-Ireland quarter-final against Kilkenny in 2006. After some deliberation Canning turned down the offer choosing instead to concentrate on his role as captain of the minor team.^[7] The seniors lost the game which lead to the eventual departure of manager Conor Hayes. Canning declined to join the senior team again in 2007, however, it was expected that he would finally join up with the team for Ger Loughnane's second year in charge as manager in 2008. Canning remained silent on the issue and refused to commit himself until after the completion of the club championship^[8]. After that All-Ireland club victory several players were invited to join the panel, with Loughnane confirming after Galway's National Hurling League victory over Limerick that Canning was one of a number of players that had accepted^[9].

[edit] References