î Flatharta not getting carried away after encouraging victory over Sligo

Date Published: {J}

 FRANK FARRAGHER

IT’S the very early days of the season and the Enniscrone landscape at the start of the year doesn’t lend itself to warmth or shelter, but for new Galway manager, Tomás Ó Flatharta, it was still an important day.

Since Galway’s last All-Ireland success of 2001, a fair few managers have departed the scene, including John O’Mahony, Peter Forde, Liam Sammon and Joe Kernan – for Tomás Ó Flatharta, the mission of maroon hope is now in his lap.

He cut a relaxed gait as he made his way to the dressingrooms at Enniscrone after last Sunday’s two point FBD success over Sligo and was quietly satisfied that his side started with a win – a success that looked highly unlikely at half-time.

“I suppose things hadn’t gone that well for us in the first half. We made a few switches at half-time and played a more direct type of game – the attitude was good and the lads fought hard. And there was a really strong wind out there too,” he said.

He wasn’t surprised at the energy and commitment of the Sligo first half performance, given their form over recent seasons, but felt it was vital that Galway got a good start to the second half.

“We got a lot of quick ball into the full forward line and Cillian (de Paor) and Sean Armstrong made very good use of it. I was happy with the overall team performance, especially in the second half,” said Ó Flatharta.

On his overall goals for the season, the man from the Kerry Gaeltacht declines to look beyond the next game – he has a very simple and clear philosophy about looking too far ahead.

“What we are trying to do is just to improve a little bit every time we go out. We’ll take small steps but I’m delighted with the attitude and commitment of the players – they do give it everything,” he said.

Ó Flatharta is not worried about the absence of so many players from his team due to a combination of injuries and third level commitments.

“It’s no harm at all at this time of year to get the chance to look at players in a competitive setting. A lot of those lads today did very well and that’s what we want to see – more players pushing hard to get into the team,” he said.

It’s back to the grindstone on Sunday for Ó Flatharta’s Galway when they take on NUI Galway at Tuam Stadium (2.0) in the second round of the FBD league.