Big double is on but some tough hurdles ahead of Galway teams

Inside Track with John McIntyre

WHISPER it . . . the odds on an historic Galway All-Ireland hurling and football double continue to tumble. With both the county’s flagship GAA teams through to the semi-finals of their respective championships, you’d now be lucky to get a double figure price on the Tribesmen emulating the feat of Cork in 1990.

With the hurlers strong favourites to retain the Liam McCarthy Cup and the footballers – who have lost just a solitary match between the league and championship in 2018 – answering every call asked of them this summer, no wonder the bookmakers are running scared of Galway achieving a magnificent milestone.

Obviously, there are still some big hurdles to cross – starting when the hurlers take on Clare at Croke Park on Saturday evening – but the fact that an unprecedented All-Ireland double is still on the cards is both tantalising and hugely exciting as the inter-county championship season heads down the home stretch.

Few will have been surprised by the progress of Micheál Donoghue’s squad, but the Galway footballers have really leapt out of the pack over the past few months, going through their Division One campaign unbeaten, putting it up to Dublin in the league final, regaining the Connacht title and now in an All-Ireland semi-final for the first time since 2001. And we all know when Galway go on a charge, they can take some stopping.

Having stunned Kerry in the opening round of the Super 8s, Kevin Walsh’s charges backed up that performance against Kildare in a far more open contest in Newbridge last Sunday. It was a dangerous fixture for Galway and while they had to work hard for victory and Daniel Flynn’s second-half dismissal was a real body blow to the home team, the men in maroon were that little more convincing over the 70-plus minutes.

It was one of Gaelic football’s games of the year, notably in the first half despite both teams flooding numbers behind the ball. The hard running of rival players was breaking through the defensive screens and it made for an exciting spectacle. There were some terrific points scored and plenty of goalmouth thrills as well as Galway notably reach the semi-finals with a game to spare

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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