Football
Galway look to restore pride with Tipp visit
Dara Bradley
It may not quite equate to an exorcism . . . but Galway senior footballer manager, Alan Mulholland’s charges will be looking to banish the demons of the humiliating Connacht championship exit to Mayo when they take on Tipperary in round one of the qualifiers at Pearse Stadium this coming Saturday (7pm).
Galway’s road to redemption following that 4-16 to 0-11 hiding in Salthill six weeks ago starts here. It mustn’t have been easy in the weeks following the Mayo debacle with the stinging criticism from the terraces and media still ringing in their ears but the Galway outfit – players and management – now have a shot at salvation, with their first opportunity to restore some pride in the maroon and white jersey.
Division Four team Tipperary, who are certainly no World beaters, were hockeyed by Kerry in the Munster championship a few weeks back, 2-19 to 0-8, and so their state of mind is probably as brittle as Galway’s and should be there for the taking . . . but there are few certainties in sport.
“Both teams are in a very fragile place . . . they’ve lost heavily in the first round against Kerry and we’ve suffered a heavy defeat. We know we’re going to have to perform 100% better than we did against Mayo, that’s what we have to do. It doesn’t really matter about the opposition, we’re not focussed on Tipperary. We have to focus on our own game . . . we have our own demons to overcome,” Mulholland told Tribune Sport yesterday.
Galway is familiar with the back-door route at this stage but it is still unchartered territory for them – it is the first time they’ve been paired in round one of the qualifiers.
Losing in round one and being out of the championship before July is unthinkable . . . but winning is definitely not a certainty either and it will depend wholly on how the players react when inside the four white lines come throw-in. It really will be a test of Galway’s character as Tipperary – who will hardly fear Galway – will throw everything at them.
Galway’s collective and individual state of mind mustn’t be in a great state at the minute and so a good start to boost confidence will be key on Saturday. Mulholland said that he has been impressed with the resolve of his players in training since the Mayo setback and that the six weeks’ break was welcome.
“It has been a long time, ordinarily you’d like to be playing sooner than six weeks after your last game but it was good that we had the six weeks. The lads returned to their clubs, which was good for them, and then we returned to training for the last few weeks. We’ve had a lot of stuff to work on and training has gone well since,” he said.
The defeat to Mayo will be remembered for all the wrong reasons. Losing by 17 points to the arch rivals ranks it as Galway’s worst championship result in living memory. So how bad was the feeling in the camp afterwards – how deflated and demoralised were they?
“Look it, it was very disappointing; we were very disappointed. A lot of things went wrong and didn’t go our way. But I’ve been very pleased with the resolve that these guys have shown since. It was very hard and it could have gone any way after the Mayo game but the players have shown a resolve in training.
“It was disappointing against Mayo, it was bad, but we’re not dwelling on it, we have to move on, we have to put that behind us. We showed some good form this year in the league, and we had some good form last year and we’re just trying to get some form going,” he added.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
CHAMPIONS Moycullen will open the defence of their title against an emerging Claregalway outfit when the sides meet in the first round of the 2021 county senior football championship on the weekend of September 5th.
In addition to Claregalway, Moycullen have also been pooled with An Cheathrú Rua and Annaghdown and, while Don Connellan’s charges will be favourites heading into all three SFC fixtures, the former Roscommon footballer will be acutely aware that each of their Group 3 opponents have the capacity to spring a surprise.
Indeed, this proved to be Moycullen’s forte in 2020 as they claimed the Frank Fox Cup for the very first time. It was even more impressive given they did so without Galway star Peter Cooke, who was working in the United States last year. Cooke has since returned and his availability significantly boasts their chances of retaining their title.
From the outset in 2020, though, Moycullen looked like men on a mission. In their group games, they saw off Micheál Breathnach (3-12 to 1-6), Annaghdown (4-9 to 2-14) and Mountbellew/Moylough (4-14 to 1-9) before accounting for St. James’ (1-17 to 2-9) and 2019 finalists Tuam Stars (3-14 to 1-15) in the quarter-final and semi-final respectively.
The two biggest threats to Moycullen’s crown are Corofin – still the reigning All-Ireland club champions – and Mountbellew/Moylough while Tuam Stars and Salthill/Knocknacarra will also fancy their chances.
Corofin, unbeaten for almost eight years in Galway SFC football until their demise last year, have been drawn in Group 4A, alongside Oughterard and Salthill/Knocknacarra. However, those three teams will not play each other, but rather they cross-play the teams pooled in Group 4B, namely Monivea/Abbey, Barna and Caherlistrane.
This unusual format gives each of these teams three SFC fixtures – same as the four-team groups – with the top two sides in each of these sections – 4A and 4B – advancing to the knockout stages.
See full coverage of the draw in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now – or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie
Roscommon 1-16
Galway 2-12
IT would be a tad simplistic to dub what was a hugely entertaining Connacht minor football semi-final as a game of two halves, given that Galway led by 11 points at one stage before Roscommon stormed back to eventually claim a remarkable victory at Tuam Stadium last Saturday.
The reality is a little more nuanced, in that Galway, on their first outing of the year, impressively carved Roscommon’s defence apart with an array of stylish attacking play for a 20-minute spell while playing with the wind at their backs. Outside of that period, though, Galway would just manage to register a solitary point from play.
Roscommon also let four decent goal chances slip through their fingers before they eventually did raise a green flag, drawing two saves while also hitting the post. Critically they hit the last three points of the half to leave a slightly more manageable eight between the sides.
During Galway’s purple patch, pacy corner forwards Eanna Monaghan and Niall Mannion both left their markers chasing shadows, as Galway reeled off nine scores without reply having understandably started quite sluggishly. Goals by Sean Bermingham and Monaghan looked to have Alan Flynn’s side in the box seat, but Roscommon showed remarkable character to claw their way back despite a second half black card that threatened to stall their comeback.
However, when Robert Heneghan’s thunderous 47th minute shot hit the roof of the net while Roscommon were still a body short, the large travelling support rose the decibel levels another notch and their team responded magnificently.
Read full coverage in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now – or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie
COROFIN 4-18
MONIVEA/ABBEY 0-7
WHILE it goes without saying that everyone is hugely thankful that sporting action has resumed and we still appear on course to complete a season, it is such a pity for the time being that only a handful of supporters are allowed the privilege to watch a team of Corofin’s class in full flight as they look destined to create history on their march to an eighth senior title in a row.
On a glorious day for football last Sunday, Corofin dismantled Monivea/Abbey in emphatic fashion, playing an electric brand of football that repeatedly cut holes in their opponent’s defensive alignment. Seven goals last time out against Oughterard, there could have been more again in Tuam Stadium but for some uncharacteristically sloppy finishing to rapier-like first half moves that left Brian Mulry’s side exposed.
It didn’t help that Cillian McDaid, Monivea/Abbey’s star turn, was an absentee, or that St. Bernard’s Connacht Junior Cup quarter final was scheduled for the same time, but Monivea/Abbey should still take a small shred of comfort from the fact that they competed well at times, created 19 scoring chances, and never dropped their heads despite the lost cause.
With no Connacht or All-Ireland club championship to have to try and peak for later in the year, Corofin look poised to lay down a serious marker on how far ahead of the pack they really are. New faces like Matthew Cooley and replacement Colin Kelly, who confidently netted two second-half goals on his debut, are being given their chance, while Ronan Steede, Martin Farragher, Bernard Power, and Daithí Burke were not required on this occasion.
Throw in the fact that Kevin O’Brien chose to keep Kieran Molloy and Gary Sice in reserve until deep into the second half and you start to seriously question whether any side in the county will be able to lay a glove on them this term. Ian Burke is motoring along nicely, Micheál Lundy appears revived back in a more attacking role, while veterans like Ciarán McGrath are haring around the pitch as if they have a point to prove.
Monivea/Abbey were lively all over the pitch early on and actually created one more scoring opportunity in the opening twelve minutes (5-4) but were unfortunately wasteful when it mattered and somehow found themselves trailing by 1-2 to 0-1.
Corofin’s movement and accuracy were already sublime, with Lundy, Burke, and Cooley lining up in an I formation down the middle of the attack and Darragh Silke offering himself as a highly effective link man in transition. Jason Leonard and Dylan Canney provided width when needed while the defensive Dylan’s, Wall and McHugh, tore forward when the chances arose.
Ian Burke’s sharp turn on eight minutes left Caelom Mulry in his wake, but when a goal looked likely Burke drove just over the bar. Three minutes later the dam broke when Lundy curled a pass into Cooley in space, and he picked out McHugh on the burst who slotted to the net at his ease.
A Brian Moran free registered Monivea/Abbey’s first score shortly after, but the die had already been cast. Jason Leonard drove over a ’45 after Burke had been denied by some last gasp defending before Canney clipped over a classy score where Lundy and Burke were involved again.
Extended report will appear in this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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