Last chance saloon for ten Galway clubs

CIARAN TIERNEY

IT’S make or break time in the Galway senior football championship as the ten teams who lost the first round ties square up to decide who emerges through the back door when the five second round fixtures take place at two venues, Pearse Stadium and Tuam, this weekend.

With the five losers set to enter a relegation dog fight, the stakes could hardly be higher and the intrigue is added to by the presence of a couple of ‘big guns’, reigning champions Salthill-Knocknacarra and Killererin, who were not expected to feature at this stage before suffering shock defeats in the opening round three weeks ago.

Salthill will expect to show a vast improvement after being ambushed by Carna-Caiseal first day out, despite a ten point haul from county forward Sean Armstrong, while Padraic Joyce is among a number of injury worries for Killererin manager Billy Joyce ahead of his side’s showdown with a youthful Cortoon Shamrocks side.

The five winners of this weekend’s games will join the ten first round winners and NUI Galway in the last 16, with Mountbellew-Moylough expected to advance when they take on Bearna in the first part of a double-header at Tuam on Sunday.

Caherlistrane could yet upset the odds set by bookmaker John Mulholland in their showdown with city side St James’, who have seen five members of their senior squad depart to the United States since their opening day defeat to Caltra.

With Salthill and Killererin unlikely to slip up so badly again, the clash of Moycullen and Annaghdown is perhaps the toughest to call – although Annaghdown have lost three players to the US since losing out to Kilkerrin-Clonberne after extra time of what proved to be the tie of the first round.

The mass exodus of players to North America and Australia this year has been a source of concern to many of the senior club managers this week, although it’s hard to separate amateur GAA sportsmen from harsh economic realities when there are far greater employment opportunities to be found for young people far from home.