Hurlers and footballers aiming to win silverware close to Christmas

THE tantalising prospect is there . . . a big Galway festive GAA double within the space of six days just before Christmas.

Mind you, the county’s hurlers and footballers will have to break new ground in attempting to claim All-Ireland senior titles for the first time ever in the same year.

At least, Padraic Joyce’s football squad and Shane O’Neill’s hurling panel now know what’s ahead of them after the GAA unveiled its restructured inter-county calendar last Friday.

Both Galway teams can claim All-Ireland honours by winning four matches after it was confirmed that the footballers’ Connacht quarter-final away to New York has been abandoned due to Covid-19.

That means Shane Walsh and company will instead commence their campaign with a provincial semi-final away to Sligo on the weekend of November 7/8, with a final date against title holders Roscommon or Mayo – there will be no fairytale for Leitrim – the following weekend.

If Galway are still standing, their next obstacle will be an All-Ireland semi-final against the Munster champions. As expected, the football championship is being run on a knock-out basis due to the tight timeframe with the All-Ireland final fixed for Saturday, December 19.

Ahead of the championship, the concluding two rounds of ther National Football League will be run off in October and Galway, currently table toppers in Division 1, can claim a first triumph in the competition since 1980/81.

The Tribesmen may not even have to win both these remaining outings – attractive home ties against Mayo and Dublin – given their impressive scoring difference, but Joyce will obviously be anxious to rediscover their early season vibrancy as quickly as possible.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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