Galway’s flagship GAA teams go to war

THE jury remains out on Galway’s two flagship GAA teams as the county’s footballers and hurlers get ready to go to war in their respective provincial championships this weekend.

Thousands of expectant Galway supporters will flock to Markievicz Park on Saturday and Tullamore on Sunday as the footballers and hurlers face major tests of their championship credentials.

Alan Mulholland’s footballers recorded a handy win away to London in May but a real acid test of their progress comes against Sligo in the semi-final of the Connacht Championship (7pm).

Sligo has won two out of the last three meetings with Galway, the other game ended in a draw, and so there is a nervous edginess among the maroon army, who remain unsure about where Galway are at in their development.

The hurlers are in a similar predicament. Anthony Cunningham’s men got the job done – just about – against Laois in the previous round, but there is an air of trepidation as Galway face an in-form Kilkenny outfit in the Leinster semi-final in O’Connor Park (4pm).

Though they were solid enough in the league, Galway hasn’t produced a championship display of note since blitzing Kilkenny in the 2012 Leinster final and again in the drawn All-Ireland final against the Cats later that year. It’s days like those that keep the fires of hope lit in the county’s hurling heartlands.

Cunningham is bullish Galway is primed to reach those heady heights again. “Absolutely, we have to get back to that level again, be it playing against Kilkenny or anybody else in the championship. We have to hit to form; you have to do that playing top teams. We have trained extremely well and we are confident we can do that . . . Yes, guys were annoyed with themselves and they weren’t happy with their performances against Laois but you can’t look back.

Full preview on both games in this week’s Connacht Tribune