Joe Canning

Joe Canning (born 11 October 1988^[1] in Portumna, County Galway) is an Irish sportsperson. He plays hurling with his local club Portumna and has been a member of the Galway senior inter-county team since 2008.

Canning is generally considered as the brightest prospect of the modern game and is noted for his accuracy from dead balls and play-making ability.^[2] One of his most notable skills is his ability to score points from side line balls, considered one of the more difficult aspects of the game.^[2]

Biography

Joe Canning was born in Portumna in 1988. His uncle, Frankie Canning, played minor hurling with Galway for three years in their ill-fated Munster Championship campaign in the 1960s and was a non-playing substitute when the Galway senior team were defeated by Offaly in the All-Ireland final of 1981. Canning is the brother of Séamus, Frank, Davy, Ollie, Ivan and Deirdre.^[3][4] All but one of those siblings would go on to win an All-Ireland medal at either club or inter-county level in either hurling or camogie. Ollie played for the Galway senior hurlers, while Deirdre played for the county camogie team.^[3][4] Joe's family instilled a love of hurling in him, and he was a talented underage hurler and rugby player.^[3][4] He was educated locally and is currently a Business and Marketing student at Limerick Institute of Technology.^[3][4]

Playing career

Club

Canning plays his club hurling with his local club in Portumna. After enjoying little success in the minor or under-21 grades Canning joined his brothers on the club's senior team at a time when Portumna was going through a boom of success. He made his debut in 2004 and helped Portumna to reach the final of the county championship. Athenry provided the opposition and eventually won the game by 0–15 to 0–13. In 2005 Portumna were back in a third consecutive county final. Canning was playing in his second and helped his club to a deserved 3–21 to 3–12 over Loughrea. Portumna later represented the county in the provincial club championship. A defeat of Four Roads of Roscommon in the final of that competition gave Canning a coveted Connacht club winners' medal. Canning later lined out in his first All-Ireland club final with Cork's 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.^[5] 2006 brought defeat in the county final, however, 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. Canning, however, chipped in with ten points to secure a second All-Ireland title in three years. In 2008 Canning added a third county championship medal to his collection after appearing in a fourth consecutive county final.^[6] Portumna once again went on to win the All-Ireland Championship; this time defeating De La Salle of Waterford in the final. In 2009 Portumna won their third Galway county title in succession defeating Loughrea. Joe Canning scored 1–10 in the final, all from placed balls.^[7] Portumna were defeated in the 2010 All Ireland Final by Ballyhale 1–19 to 0–17. Portumna had been undefeated in 29 championship matches prior to the 2010 All Ireland final. Prior to the defeat to Ballyhale, their last defeat had been in the 2006 county final versus Loughrea. Portumna's involvement in the 2010 Galway senior hurling championship was ended at the semi final stage by Loughrea after a replay. Portumna and Loughrea drew at the semi final stage, Portumna 1-14 Loughrea 2-11, with Joe Canning forcing a replay after converting a free with the last puck of the game. Loughrea defeated Portumna in the replay, 1-16 to 1-14, resulting in Portumna missing out on a county final appearance for the first time since 2003, having made it to the county final in '03, '04, '05, '06, '07, '08 and '09. Overall, since Portumna won their first senior county title in 2003, they have only been defeated in five championship matches. (1) 2004 All Ireland semi final: Dunloy 2–13 Portumna 2–10 (2) 2004 County final: Athenry 0–15 Portumna 0–13 (3) 2006 County final: Loughrea 1–13 Portumna 0–15 (4) 2010 All Ireland final: Ballyhale 1–19 Portumna 0–17 (5) 2010 County Semi final replay: Loughrea 1-16 Portumna 1-14.

Portumna Senior Hurling Championship Appearances

College

In 2007 in his first year at the Limerick Institute of Technology Canning became a key member of the college's senior hurling team. The team defeated near local rivals from the University of Limerick to capture their first ever Fitzgibbon Cup title. In 2008 Canning played for LIT once again as they hoped to retain their title. In spite of Canning scoring a remarkable 1–16 of LIT's total in a tightly contested final, he still ended up on the losing side as Waterford Institute of Technology were the victors.^[8] GAA President Nickey Brennan described it as the "best game of hurling he has ever seen".

Minor & under-21

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. After having no competition in the provincial series the men from the West reached the All-Ireland final that year where they played Kilkenny. That game ended in a 3–12 to 1–18 draw, however, Galway narrowly won the replay by 0–16 to 1–12 giving Canning a first All-Ireland winners' medal in the minor grade.^[9] In 2005 Canning lined out in a second consecutive All-Ireland final, this time with Limerick providing the opposition. Another high-scoring game ensued, however, at the full-time whistle Galway were the victors by 3–12 to 0–17.^[10] In 2006 Canning was appointed captain of a Galway minor team attempting to capture an historic third All-Ireland minor title in-a-row.^[2] Furthermore, Canning was hoping to equal Jimmy Doyle's record of winning three minor championships in-a-row. On the day Galway were comprehensively defeated by 2–18 to 2–7 by a stronger Tipperary side.^[11] Canning himself felt that the team could have performed better on the day:

"To me, the three-in-a-row thing wasn't in my mind. Our performance was what frustrated me that day. We didn't do ourselves justice. Tipperary blew us off the pitch basically".^[3]

2006 also saw Canning make his debut on the Galway under-21 hurling team. He came on as a substitute in the All-Ireland semi-final against Kilkenny, however, in spite of scoring 2–4, with 2–3 coming from play and ending up as the game's top scorer, Galway were easily defeated in a one sided contest.^[12] In 2007 Canning again was a key member of the under-21 team as Galway finally captured the All-Ireland under-21 title by defeating Dublin in the final. In 2008, however, Galway were knocked out by Kilkenny in a semi-final which saw Canning score eight points despite being hampered by a groin strain.^[13]

In 2009 Canning was captain of the Galway under-21 team which lost to Clare in the All-Ireland semi-final. Canning scored 4–7 in the match which went to extra-time.^[14]

Senior

After his exploits at minor and under-21 levels 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.^[15] The seniors lost the game which led 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.^[16] 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.^[17]

Canning went on to make his senior debut in the National League semi-final against Cork, and featured again in the final against Tipperary. Galway were defeated by a strong Tipperary side but Canning's second-half performance was singled out for praise.

His championship debut came several months later against Antrim in the first round of the qualifiers. Canning finished as the game's top scorer in the Galway victory with a tally of 2–6, 1–4 of which came from play.^[18] Canning was again top scorer in the second round with nine points (five from play).^[19] Galway, however, then exited the championship after a two-point defeat against Cork, despite an impressive display by Canning in which he scored both Galway's goals and twelve of their fifteen points.^[20] His performances later earned him a coveted All-Star award while he was also named Vodafone Young Hurler of the Year. In 2009 Canning was nominated for the Young Hurler of the year award and also an all-star. He won the all star but it was Noel McGrath who received the Young Hurler award. Canning was also awarded the Halifax GPA Fair Play award for hurling in 2009.^[21]

In May 2010, he scored 1–5 as Galway won the 2010 National Hurling League with a 2–22 to 1–17 win against Cork at Semple Stadium.^[22]

Personal

In September 2010, Canning was appointed an Ambassador for UNICEF Ireland.^[23]

National Hurling League Appearances

Championship Appearances

Honours

Portumna

• All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship:
  • Winner (3): 2006, 2008, 2009
  • Runner-up (1): 2010
• Connacht Senior Club Hurling Championship:
  • Winner (2): 2005, 2007
• Galway Senior Hurling Championship:
  • Winner (4): 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009
  • Runner-up (2): 2004, 2006

Joe Canning's Senior County Final scoring record

• 2004 vs Athenry:
  • 0–2
• 2005 vs Loughrea:
  • 1–11
• 2006 vs Loughrea:
  • 0–7
• 2007 vs Kinvara:
  • 3–5
• 2008 vs Gort:
  • 0–10
• 2009 vs Loughrea:
  • 1–10

Joe Canning's Senior Club Hurling All Ireland Final scoring record

• 2006 vs Newtowndunshandrum:
  • 1–6
• 2008 vs Birr:
  • 0–10
• 2009 vs De La Salle:
  • 0–9
• 2010 vs Ballyhale
  • 0–12

Galway

• National Hurling League:
  • Winner (1): 2010
  • Runner-up (1): 2008
• Leinster Senior Hurling Championship:
  • Runner-up (1): 2010
• All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Championship:
  • Winner (1): 2007
• All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship:
  • Winner (2): 2004, 2005
  • Runner-up (1): 2006

Limerick Institute of Technology

• Fitzgibbon Cup:
  • Winner (1): 2007
  • Runner-up (1): 2008

References

External links

• cul4kidz profile
• Galway GAA website
• Hurling Stats Profile

Teams

{{Navboxes colour |title= Galway - All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship Teams |bg= Maroon |fg= White |list1=

{{Galway Minor Hurling Team 2005}