Footballers wilt in face of Donegal’s determination

Date Published: 28-Jul-2009

ANOTHER day of unpalatable home truths for Galway footballers in the world of late summer championship action as that repetitive message of the last seven years was again drummed home — when the going gets tough, we just can’t hack it, even with the teams on the periphery of the big time.

This should have been a day when Galway sent out a message of intent as to their All-Ireland aspirations, but once more when the intensity of the action hit a certain point on the stress meter, Liam Sammon’s side just did not have the resolve and desire to match that of Donegal.

Again August looms with no trip to Croke Park in the offing for the Galway fans, and while Donegal can take a reasonable slice of satisfaction from their mid-summer recovery, it seems highly unlikely that they have the capability of making a serious bid for All-Ireland glory.

Donegal are one of the teams that Galway should be capable of ‘taking out’ of the championship. Less than four months ago in a league match at Pearse Stadium, Galway had them hammered out the gate at half-time — what has changed so much in the meantime?

It really is all about being able to step up the pace and intensity from the more sedate league action to the white hot heat of championship football . . . whatever is in the current Galway psyche puts a brake in that transition and that’s been true for the latter years of John O’Mahony’s reign as well as Peter Ford’s and now Liam Sammon’s tenures of office. Galway are still playing March football in mid-summer.

When it came to the crunch last Saturday evening in Markievicz Park, the Galway forwards simply didn’t deliver the goods and it wasn’t because of any failure to win a decent share of midfield ball.

For all the justified early season criticism of the midfield sector, in our last two games against Mayo and Donegal, Galway got a decent 50-50 break both in overall possession and from kick-outs.

Galway started out with a ‘big four’ in attack to prise open the Donegal defence — Padraic Joyce, Sean Armstrong, Nicky Joyce and Michael Meehan. Most Galway supporters had reasonable expectations that at least two of those would hit a hot streak of form on Saturday evening.

The reality was that only Sean Armstrong of that quartet delivered the type of display that Galway needed to see them through. Karl Lacey, especially in the first half, completely snuffed out the threat of Michael Meehan; Nicky Joyce could make no headway in the corner while Padraic Joyce, despite a few slide rule trademark passes, just didn’t have the legs to threaten the Donegal defence.

Armstrong, Matthew Clancy (in the first half) and Paul Conroy proved to be Galway’s most effective attackers, but as the game wore on, one defining and ultimately fatal pattern of play for the losers emerged. Time and time again, Galway attackers took the ball into the tackle in the crowded heart of the Donegal defence and almost invariably possession was lost and chances were created at the other end.

It was like a…