Galway boss Joyce knows his side must improve for Kerry clash

BY DAVID CONNORS

WHEN reaching an All-Ireland Football Final in the middle of September, you would be normally safe to assume it will be a Kerry side waiting there at the final hurdle.

Incredibly, this Sunday, will be the 102nd final a Kerry side will have contested at minor, under-21 and senior grades with the men from the Kingdom returning victorious a remarkable 60 times.

Once again, it’s Gaelic football’s traditional juggernaut that awaits Stephen Joyce and his young Galway chargers in the minor final on Sunday. Kerry’s future continues to look bright as their minors are bidding to win three-in-row.

Galway themselves can hopefully look forward to a sparkling future after producing some swashbuckling attacking displays throughout this campaign, combined with some steely defensive displays at the other end. The Tribesmen dispatched one of the championship’s favourites Donegal on a scoreline of 2-12 to 1-11 in the semi-final.

Joyce was in agreement that it was his side’s best performance to date: “We seemed to improve as the year went on and we got a more consistent performance against Donegal. We played for the hour and that was good in that respect. We played other matches for maybe 30-40 minutes and we didn’t play for the full 60 minutes like we did against Donegal.”

If there was a criticism of Galway in that game it would certainly be that they should have been more comprehensive winners. They spurned numerous chances, particularly in the second half and while the result was never really in doubt, a Donegal goal in the final minutes to bring the gap to a one score game made for a more nervy finish than necessary.

“There were aspects with it I wasn’t happy with. Our work-rate was good but our finishing could have been a lot more comfortable and we did squander a lot of chances. I think if we’re going to win it we are going to have to come on. We are definitely going to have to be more clinical and we’re going to have to be a bit more dominant in the middle of the field. We are going to have to give a big performance in the middle of the field,” insisted the Clonbur clubman.

The middle of the field has been an issue for Galway throughout this championship. While there was a distinct improvement in performance against Donegal, they will be tested at a whole new level against a Kerry side who completely dominated this area in their comfortable 22 point semi-final victory over Kildare. In particular Galway’s quarter final fixture against Laois left question marks over the ball winning ability around the midfield zone.

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