Footballers edge closer to safety

Galway 2-14

Armagh 1-13

“A goodend to a tough week” was how Alan Mulholland summed up the mood at Tuam Stadium on Sunday after Galway gave themselves a league survival lifeline with their 2-14 to 1-13 win over Armagh.

And while the win in itself doesn’t guarantee survival for Galway, it leaves their fate in their own hands – quite simply victory over Monaghan in Clones on Sunday will mean they stay up. However easier said that done.

“At least we’ll be going to Clones in a positive frame of mind. Wins like this [Armagh] are real building blocks for a young team – we didn’t make it easy on ourselves but I was delighted with the way we finished,” said Mulholland.

There were some upheavals in the panel last week, with Gary Sice temporarily withdrawing from action after not being selected on Friday night, while separately Jonathan Duane and Eoin Concannon were not included for an internal disciplinary matter.

However the signs are over the weekend, that all three will be back in training this week as Galway plan a serious assault on a Monaghan side, perched on a nine point top-of-the-table slot with Donegal.

“I know that in the past Galway have had quite a good record against Monaghan but they are a different side now. They are Ulster champions, they’re on a good run of form and they are the type of team that we need to measure ourselves against,” said the Galway manager.

While a win on Sunday would guarantee Galway’s survival, they also have a number of ‘side door’ chances of avoiding the drop, even if defeated. If Laois on four points are beaten by Down in Portlaoise, Galway (5 pts.) would end up one point ahead of Tomás Ó Flatharta’s side (4).

Secondly, if Donegal beat Armagh in the Athletic Grounds, Galway would be level with Armagh on five points. In that scenario, the head-to-head result would decide survival and Galway would stay up.

However if Laois were to draw in their last home match against Down – with both Galway and Armagh suffering defeats – in a three way tie, scoring difference would decide the outcome.

That is a scenario Galway will want to avoid. As things stand on scoring difference, Galway are worst of the three on -15 as compared to Armagh on -4 and Laois on -11.

The damage on scoring difference for Galway was done in the 1-20 to 0-8 defeat at the hands of Laois in Portlaoise last month. If teams end up level on scoring difference, ‘scores for’ will decide the top team.