Inside Track
Galway provide hope for future but not there yet
Inside Track with John McIntyre
GALWAY got what they needed at McHale Park last Sunday – a performance, and some tangible hope for the future. Ending Mayo’s stranglehold on the provincial championship would have been another aspiration for the Tribesmen heading to Castlebar, but deep down they probably knew that challenge was always going to prove beyond them unless the champions had fallen into significant decline.
Certainly, Mayo’s league campaign had raised some concerns about possible deterioration among their followers, especially their failure to close out a couple of games they appeared to be in control of. The champions were no great shakes either in the Connacht semi-final against an under-rated Roscommon, but James Horan’s men remain a focused and talented squad who were always keeping their arch rivals at bay in Sunday’s showdown.
The fact that Galway put it up to their hosts, notably after half-time, and, more importantly, never died or threw in the towel after the concession of any of Mayo’s three goals shows that progress is being made. The team fought to the finish and though the result was inevitable for large tracts of the match, Galway managed to keep the title holders honest and have clearly improved compared to last year’s mauling at Pearse Stadium.
Of course, there is still a major bridge to be closed. Mayo won their fourth consecutive Connacht final apparently playing in their comfort zone; they were physically dominant and their far greater experience was evident too. Aidan O’Shea, who lined out on the forty, handled more ball than any other player on the field and such is his power that Galway found it difficult to curb him.
There had been high hopes that the youthful midfield pairing of Fiontán Ó Curraoin and Thomas Flynn, who were so impressive against Sligo, would really ask Mayo questions under the dropping ball, but Sunday represented a steep rise in class and they struggled to exert a major influence, although Flynn proved a useful link man at times. Furthermore, at this level, Galway needed to take the vast majority of their chances to have any hopes of causing an upset.
Facing the wind in the opening-half, they were first on the mark with a Shane Walsh free and though having no shortage of possession, Galway’s shooting left something to be desired with the hard-working Danny Cummins and Eddie Hoare’s radars completely on the blink as they contributed six wides between them. Mindful of the way Mayo had run through them last year, Galway set up defensively, with team captain Paul Conroy and Hoare, both selected in the full forward line, more often than not to be found around the middle of the field.
Undoubtedly, the tactic clogged up Mayo’s attacking avenues and after ten minutes the hosts had only two points on the board. Galway were hitting on the counter-attack but the required accuracy wasn’t there, with raiding wing back Gareth Bradshaw thumping a close range effort off the post near the interval when there was a possible goal scoring opportunity on. Alan Mulholland’s team came much closer, however, to rattling the Mayo net on several occasions in the second-half, not least when Walsh smashed the ball off the crossbar after a searing run in its opening seconds.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Inside Track with John McIntyre
SOMETHING very odd happened to Tyrone in the Ulster championship in early April. On their home turf of Healy Park, they were doing nearly everything expected of them when leading Monaghan by five points at half-time. You couldn’t say for definite that the match was done and dusted, but the 2021 All-Ireland champions were in pole position.
You would have expected them to drive on against an honest if limited Monaghan outfit. Instead, Tyrone didn’t score for the opening 16 minutes of the second-half and in an enthralling finale, were left stunned by defender Ryan’s Toole’s stoppage-time goal snatching the honours for the Farney men on a 2-17 to 1-18 scoreline.
A couple of weeks later, Monaghan themselves had exited the Ulster title race when Derry comfortably got the better of them (1-21 to 2-10), leaving us more puzzled than ever by Tyrone’s dramatic decline since overcoming Mayo to claim Sam barely 20 months previously. Last year, they crashed out of Ulster by 11 points to Derry and subsequently came up six short against Armagh in the All-Ireland qualifiers.
Against that background, their recent loss to Monaghan shouldn’t have come as a surprise, but it did. Tyrone may have made a shambolic defence of the All-Ireland title, but there is still a lot of quality in their ranks. They have an adventurous ‘keeper in Niall Morgan, while the long-serving Peter Harte, Darragh Canavan, Darren McCurry, Cathal McShane, Conor Meyler, Mattie Donnelly, and Conn Kilpatrick are all top-class performers when in the mood.
There’s hardly been a word about them for the past six weeks. Tyrone are lying low, desperately trying to rediscover the verve and cohesion which took them all the way in 2021. Their pride is on the line. It makes them dangerous opponents for Galway in the opening round of All-Ireland group matches at Pearse Stadium on Saturday.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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Inside Track with John McIntyre
GALWAY footballers won’t get much credit for their easy victory over Sligo in Sunday’s Connacht Final in Castlebar, but when a team achieves something that hasn’t been done for 20 years, perhaps we should be a little more appreciative of the Tribesmen retaining the JJ Nestor Cup for the first time in two decades.
To be honest, if Galway were to live up to their standing as serious All-Ireland contenders, they needed to be doing a number on Sligo. In this year’s National League, the counties were three divisions apart and though Tony McEntee’s team achieved promotion and were on a nine-match unbeaten run, a serious rise in class faced them at MacHale Park.
Granted, Sligo made a bright start with three points in the opening five minutes from Pat Spillane, Sean Carrabine and the accurate Darragh Cummins, but they would only manage two more by the break despite having the wind behind them. Though wing back Luke Towey was catching the eye with his runs up-field, Galway rarely looked under pressure.
Sligo were bravely committing numbers to the middle third, which meant they were a little light in numbers around their own posts. They couldn’t afford to lose possession coming out of their own half, but that’s what happened in the build up to Galway’s second goal. Damien Comer overturned Cian Lally and from his counter-attack, Matthew Tierney expertly finished to the net at the near post.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Inside Track with John McIntyre
IS the Leinster hurling championship something of a sham compared to its Munster counterpart? Everybody knows who will end up in the provincial final in the east, but nobody knows the two teams who will feature in the ultimate battle for supremacy down south.
All-Ireland champions Limerick aren’t guaranteed to even make it out of the province, never mind reach the Munster final, after their narrow loss to Clare in Saturday evening’s epic at the Gaelic Grounds. Everything is still on the line for the five counties involved, although Waterford are again under serious pressure after losing their opening two matches.
In Leinster, there is little of that drama. Galway and Kilkenny are miles ahead of the rest; the only thing at stake is whether Dublin or Wexford – they meet in Croke Park on Saturday – will be the third team to emerge for the All-Ireland series. It’s a game which is hard to call. Wexford are going backwards while Dublin look callow as Micheál Donoghue is trying to build the nucleus of a new team.
Though Antrim are improving – they held the Dubs to a draw and only lost to Wexford by four points – the men from the Glens would be out of their depth in Munster; while Westmeath are proving cannon-fodder for everyone else. Since Galway headed east in 2009, they have clashed with Kilkenny in seven Leinster finals and another showdown is inevitable next month.
In contrast, every match in Munster is virtually do-or die. When Clare rolled into Limerick last Saturday, they knew another defeat after losing to Tipperary in the opening round would leave them on the precipice of exiting the championship. There’s a real dog-eat-dog appeal about all the games. In Leinster, there are two big hounds, and the rest are chihuahuas.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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