Knife-Edge Clash

Date Published: 11-Jul-2008

THEY have locked horns in the championship on 73 occasions since the beginning of the last century and Galway lead the table by a single victory – last year’s seven-point margin at Pearse stadium.

In Connacht finals they are also inseparable, sharing the honours evenly in 38 contests. Nothing in their recent history suggests that Sunday’s final will be anything other than a continuation of the enduring drama between the province’s two giant gladiators.

It is perhaps fitting that MacHale Park should, as its final act before closing for a€14 million revamp, play host to one last roiling encounter between its keenest antagonists who have waged so many illustrious battles on its hollowed turf over the years.

Ever since the draw was made this was seen as the obvious culmination. And if other contests failed to attract supporters in big numbers, this may be the reason. It’s the one they have all been waiting for.

As former Mayo star David Brady – now a TV3 pundit – put it: “The Connacht final is everything. Maybe Galway or Mayo mightn’t win the All-Ireland, but if either loses the Connacht final to the other it’s been a bad, bad year, and you have to look at it like that. Younever want to lose against Galway, Galway never want to lose against Mayo. It’s a big game for everyone. It’s a big game for Connacht as well.”

Above any year, Mayo enter this final as…