Joyce’s young charges off to a flyer

PADRAIC Joyce’s first competitive game in charge of his native county could not have gone any better as Galway U20 footballers cruised to an 11 point victory in the first round of the John Kerins Cup against Kildare on Saturday.

Joyce can only be regarded as a legend of Galway football and his side gave an exhibition of the game’s best qualities at times during this victory, leaving Galway supporters rightly feeling very optimistic ahead of the Connacht championship.

Kildare were All-Ireland champions at this grade in 2018, but were not at the races at all on Saturday, in contrast to their Western counterparts who were very sharp.

The brand of football that Galway opted to play was also positive and attractive on the eye, with the team’s inside forward line particularly impressive.

Darragh Silke was magnificent for Galway, scoring seven points over the course of the game, with his colleagues in the inside line, Costello and Cunningham, also impressing.

Galway travel to Cork on Saturday for their second game of the John Kerins Cup, with Dublin and Kerry the other teams in the group.

Read full match report in this week’s Tribune Sport.