Galway quickly into the groove in seasonal bow

Date Published: 09-Jan-2013

Galway 0-16

NUI Galway 0-6

FRANK FARRAGHER  AT TUAM STADIUM

A DREARY and dank mid-winter’s day in Tuam Stadium with about 400 of the faithful huddled together in the old stand as Galway footballers embarked on another campaign, harbouring hopes of leaving the dark memories of 2012 very much in the past.

NUIG did not provide much by way of credible opposition and that factor has to be fed into the analysis machine, but at face value Galway looked fit, sharp and a fair bit physically stronger than their opponents.

In its own unobtrusive way, the game marked the end of an era in Galway football with the last playing connections severed between the team of today and the All-Ireland winning side of 2001, following the autumn retirements of Padraic Joyce and Joe Bergin.

Alan Mulholland is setting out to build a new, young team and the aspiration is commendable as Galway start construction work from the foundation stones – judging by the intensity of the performance last Sunday, the squad certainly hasn’t been idle over the winter months.

Regulars like Gary O’Donnell, Finian Hanley and Sean Armstrong were left on the bench as management used the first match of the year to give new blood its chance – overall the response was positive with Galway at times threatening to completely over-run the students.

The home crowd also gave a very warm welcome to Michael Meehan with the Caltra player fairly tearing into the cut and thrust of the action without suffering any ill effects – it goes without saying that he does give an added scoring edge to the Galway attack.

The NUIG cause wasn’t helped two minutes into the second half when Tipperary’s Robbie Kiely got a red card from referee James Molloy for a foul on Paul Conroy that left the St. James’s player requiring attention – a mission that was already hazardous for the students now turned to hopeless.

Goalkeeper Donal O’Sullivan (Limerick), Joss Moore (Mountbellew), Fiachra O Deasmhunaigh (Cork) and Ian Galvin (Kerry) fought the good fight, but in terms of primary ball winning power, NUIG just weren’t at the races in most sectors of the pitch.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.