Footballers under pressure but expect a response in the Hyde

Inside Track with John McIntyre

IN the days after Galway botched a winning hand against Monaghan in a Division One National League relegation play-off in Clones last month, former Kerry midfielder Darragh Ó Sé put the boot into the Tribesmen for being the architects of their own misfortune.

Writing in his weekly column in the Irish Times, Ó Sé went through all the basic errors Galway committed in failing to protect a five-point lead in the closing minutes of normal time. He couldn’t understand how they were unable to close out the game and accused the team of making a series of misjudgements and unforced errors.

Ó Sé had some sympathy for Padraic Joyce and his management team as Galway imploded during those crucial minutes – a scenario which eventually led to a one-point extra-time defeat and demotion to Division Two. Everybody in the camp must have been sick on the journey home from Monaghan that evening but, in reality, they had only themselves to blame.

It was Galway’s sixth loss in their last seven competitive outings and for a proud football man like Joyce, the fact that this was happening on his watch must have been particularly painful. There was understandable great fanfare when the Killererin legend took over in the winter of 2019 and his impact was immediate.

Prior to Covid arriving on these shores in March of 2020, Galway were arguably the form team in the country, flying high at the top of Division One with their thumping of Tyrone at Tuam Stadium even making football fans outside the county stand up and take notice. Galway were on a roll with their only defeat coming in Tralee after frightening the life out of Kerry.

Unfortunately, no team’s form has been more adversely affected by the pandemic than the men in maroon. Their only victory since came recently against Roscommon in the league and the pressure is cranking up on Joyce. Since the Monaghan game, he has gone to ground and shunned the media. I have no issue with that at all, but it shows that Joyce is agitated over how results are going and is not inclined to put a public brave face on things.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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