Key moments which shaped outcome of 2022 showdown

By Alan Dooley

DESPITE a monumental effort from all involved, in the end it was an agonising defeat for Galway at the hands of Kerry last Sunday afternoon in the eighth ever All-Ireland senior football final contested by the two counties. A third draw was very much still on the cards late on before the men from the Kingdom surged ahead, with both sides having had spells of dominance in an absorbing battle.

The stark facts show Galway only scored twice after the 47th minute, but this really was a game of such fine margins in which the outcome could well have been different on another day. Here we look back at five moments that helped shape the 2022 decider.

Having soaked up some early Kerry pressure, Galway were remarkably composed when they did finally get their hands on the ball. Already a point ahead when John Daly picked up possession in the Kerry half off a breaking ball, the Mountbellew-Moylough man drifted onto the 45m line and spellbindingly split the Kerry rearguard with a glorious pass to create Johnny Heaney’s goal chance.

Heaney has a canny habit of pilfering vital goals and Galway supporters suddenly felt another was on the cards, but the combination of the pace he was travelling at combined with the ball bouncing away from him seemed to force the Killannin man to take three steps before attempting a shot.

By then Stephen O’Brien had made up enough ground by cutting off the angle to be able to dive and deflect the shot over the bar. An early major could have really lit the maroon touchpaper, and Pádraic Joyce knew as much. Goal chances are hard earned in All-Ireland finals, with Galway becoming the fourth team in a row to lose the final without raising a green flag.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.

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