Footballers must be wary of the Roscommon threat

Galway can put neighbours Roscommon into serious relegation trouble when they meet in round six of the National Football League at Pearse Stadium this Saturday (3.30pm).

A repeat of the 2018 Connacht Football Final pairing – which Galway won in Dr Hyde Park – this Division One tie between western rivals is the second match of a double bill in Salthill; the Galway senior hurlers’ take on Wexford in the National League quarter-final in the curtain-raiser (1.30pm).

Mathematically, Galway aren’t yet safe from the ‘drop’ to Division Two but a massive win over Mayo last Saturday week in Castlebar has eased the pressure on the Tribesmen, who are mid-table and in with a squeak of qualifying for a League Final if results go their way elsewhere.

Though it’s unlikely, Kevin Walsh’s men could yet be overtaken and face relegation if Monaghan and Roscommon win their two remaining matches, and if Galway don’t garner anything from this weekend and the following weekend in Omagh.

They’re big ‘ifs’. But they should be enough to focus the minds of the maroon and white this weekend; getting points off the Rossies – though never easy, even at home – is a far more appealing prospect than travelling to Tyrone in search of a result in the last round of the League, particularly if, as appears likely, Mickey Harte’s charges require points, too.

Galway’s destiny is still very much in their own hands, though, and having despatched ‘the ould enemy’ at MacHale Park a fortnight ago, they’ll fancy their chances of picking-up another two points this weekend.

Captained by Gary O’Donnell in the League campaign, Galway has recorded some impressive results this Spring, none more pleasing than the 1-11 to 0-12 victory against Mayo.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.

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