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.