Inside Track
Limp Galway show in Leitrim won’t cut it against champs
Inside Track with John McIntyre
It is to be hoped that the Galway footballers are keeping some of their powder dry for next month’s Connacht semi-final against Mayo – or else the Tribesmen will have to turn themselves inside out in the space of a few weeks to have a genuine chance of toppling the title holders at Pearse Stadium.
On paper, an eight-point away victory over Leitrim mightn’t constitute a bad day’s work, but the reality is that Galway’s hosts in last Sunday’s championship quarter-final are marooned in Division Four of the National League and are only making up numbers in the provincial title race. Given that Leitrim were also missing their star player in Emlyn Mulligan and useful defender Paul Brennan, you’d imagine that Galway should be beating them out the gate.
Of course, camp insiders will understandably testify that there is little to be gained from hammering Leitrim, but what kind of carnage would Kerry or Dublin have inflicted on the Connacht minnows in Carrick-on-Shannon last Sunday? The bottom line is that Galway were far from impressive; lacked fluidity and cohesion; with several supposedly key players struggling to find their best form.
Leitrim caused their visitors too many problems for comfort and the outcome would have been much closer only for some wild shooting and the alertness of Galway goalkeeper Brian O’Donoghue in the opening-half. Furthermore, they spurned a great goal-scoring opportunity seconds after the resumption when Donal Wrynn dragged his close range effort wide of the far post.
More worryingly, when the in-form Damien Comer blasted to the Leitrim net in the 32nd minute, Galway led by 1-7 to 0-3 against the wind and seemingly coasting to victory. Yet, for the remainder of the action, they were only able to increase that margin by a single point. It’s not the kind of form which will seriously trouble Mayo and you are left wishfully thinking that they are keeping something big in the locker for the visit of the champions.
Nobody is accusing new manager Kevin Walsh of not putting his best fifteen on the field, but a number of individuals are just struggling to live up to their reputations at present, notably Shane Walsh. The Kilkerrin/Clonberne clubman really caught the eye in last year’s championship, but it’s just not happening for him in 2015 so far. The attack in general lacked a real cutting edge against Leitrim with Danny Cummins, Gary Sice, Peadar Og O Griofa and Michéal Lundy rarely threatening to run amok. Most of the heavy lifting was left to full forward Damien Comer.
A total of 1-13 was a relatively modest return against such limited if spirited opposition, with six of those points coming from frees, and another one sent over by centre back Gary O’Donnell. Undoubtedly, Galway will ‘rise it’ for Mayo, but they have a lot of fine tuning to do on the training ground in the interim, while you’d also worry about how they are going to cope with Mayo physically? In one way, it’s set up perfectly for a Galway ambush but, in another, you’d be fearful that there remains a significant gulf between the teams.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Inside Track with John McIntyre
SOMETHING very odd happened to Tyrone in the Ulster championship in early April. On their home turf of Healy Park, they were doing nearly everything expected of them when leading Monaghan by five points at half-time. You couldn’t say for definite that the match was done and dusted, but the 2021 All-Ireland champions were in pole position.
You would have expected them to drive on against an honest if limited Monaghan outfit. Instead, Tyrone didn’t score for the opening 16 minutes of the second-half and in an enthralling finale, were left stunned by defender Ryan’s Toole’s stoppage-time goal snatching the honours for the Farney men on a 2-17 to 1-18 scoreline.
A couple of weeks later, Monaghan themselves had exited the Ulster title race when Derry comfortably got the better of them (1-21 to 2-10), leaving us more puzzled than ever by Tyrone’s dramatic decline since overcoming Mayo to claim Sam barely 20 months previously. Last year, they crashed out of Ulster by 11 points to Derry and subsequently came up six short against Armagh in the All-Ireland qualifiers.
Against that background, their recent loss to Monaghan shouldn’t have come as a surprise, but it did. Tyrone may have made a shambolic defence of the All-Ireland title, but there is still a lot of quality in their ranks. They have an adventurous ‘keeper in Niall Morgan, while the long-serving Peter Harte, Darragh Canavan, Darren McCurry, Cathal McShane, Conor Meyler, Mattie Donnelly, and Conn Kilpatrick are all top-class performers when in the mood.
There’s hardly been a word about them for the past six weeks. Tyrone are lying low, desperately trying to rediscover the verve and cohesion which took them all the way in 2021. Their pride is on the line. It makes them dangerous opponents for Galway in the opening round of All-Ireland group matches at Pearse Stadium on Saturday.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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Inside Track with John McIntyre
GALWAY footballers won’t get much credit for their easy victory over Sligo in Sunday’s Connacht Final in Castlebar, but when a team achieves something that hasn’t been done for 20 years, perhaps we should be a little more appreciative of the Tribesmen retaining the JJ Nestor Cup for the first time in two decades.
To be honest, if Galway were to live up to their standing as serious All-Ireland contenders, they needed to be doing a number on Sligo. In this year’s National League, the counties were three divisions apart and though Tony McEntee’s team achieved promotion and were on a nine-match unbeaten run, a serious rise in class faced them at MacHale Park.
Granted, Sligo made a bright start with three points in the opening five minutes from Pat Spillane, Sean Carrabine and the accurate Darragh Cummins, but they would only manage two more by the break despite having the wind behind them. Though wing back Luke Towey was catching the eye with his runs up-field, Galway rarely looked under pressure.
Sligo were bravely committing numbers to the middle third, which meant they were a little light in numbers around their own posts. They couldn’t afford to lose possession coming out of their own half, but that’s what happened in the build up to Galway’s second goal. Damien Comer overturned Cian Lally and from his counter-attack, Matthew Tierney expertly finished to the net at the near post.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Inside Track with John McIntyre
IS the Leinster hurling championship something of a sham compared to its Munster counterpart? Everybody knows who will end up in the provincial final in the east, but nobody knows the two teams who will feature in the ultimate battle for supremacy down south.
All-Ireland champions Limerick aren’t guaranteed to even make it out of the province, never mind reach the Munster final, after their narrow loss to Clare in Saturday evening’s epic at the Gaelic Grounds. Everything is still on the line for the five counties involved, although Waterford are again under serious pressure after losing their opening two matches.
In Leinster, there is little of that drama. Galway and Kilkenny are miles ahead of the rest; the only thing at stake is whether Dublin or Wexford – they meet in Croke Park on Saturday – will be the third team to emerge for the All-Ireland series. It’s a game which is hard to call. Wexford are going backwards while Dublin look callow as Micheál Donoghue is trying to build the nucleus of a new team.
Though Antrim are improving – they held the Dubs to a draw and only lost to Wexford by four points – the men from the Glens would be out of their depth in Munster; while Westmeath are proving cannon-fodder for everyone else. Since Galway headed east in 2009, they have clashed with Kilkenny in seven Leinster finals and another showdown is inevitable next month.
In contrast, every match in Munster is virtually do-or die. When Clare rolled into Limerick last Saturday, they knew another defeat after losing to Tipperary in the opening round would leave them on the precipice of exiting the championship. There’s a real dog-eat-dog appeal about all the games. In Leinster, there are two big hounds, and the rest are chihuahuas.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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