Meehan Galway’s Main Injury Concern

Date Published: 08-Jul-2008

WING back Declan Meehan continues to be Galway’s main injury worry in the run-up to Sunday’s Connacht final clash against Mayo in Castlebar (2.0).

The Caltra speed merchant damaged a hamstring in training the week before last and has been on intensive treatment since – however, management only give him a 50-50 chance of being fit for the big match of the year in Connacht football.

Also sidelined is Kilkerrin-Clonberne’s Damien Dunleavy with a broken bone in his foot, while midfielder Joe Bergin is still ruled out with the Achilles tendon rupture he suffered late in the league campaign.

However the recovery signs are very good for the Mountbellew midfielder as he has returned to light training and he should be back pushing for a return in the post Mayo scenario . . . whether that be the quarter-finals or qualifiers.

Although there are some other niggly injury worries, Galway manager Liam Sammon will be hoping that they will have sorted themselves out by the weekend.

Kieran Fitzgerald, Diarmuid Blake and Niall Coyne are all back on the fit list which will give management plenty of food for thought when they sit down this evening to settle on the final 15.

Barry Cullinane looks a certain starter at midfield after making a big impression when coming on against Leitrim in Pearse Stadium while the bankers in attack will be the Joyce cousins, Matthew Clancy and Michael Meehan.

John O’Mahony has managed to maintain a relatively low profile for his Mayo charges and as Galway know – from both sides of the fence – the Ballaghderreen man is a real master in terms of getting a team to peak for the big day.

Rather worryingly from a Galway point of view, they have won their last two ‘big’ games against Mayo – in the Connacht championship last year at Pearse Stadium and in the league this Spring in Castlebar.

Very seldom does either of those teams manager a three-ina- row of victories over the other. Mayo mightn’t exactly have set the league alight this year but a modest points total at the end of the campaign masked a positive enough early season period for them.

They were genuinely unlucky to lose out to Galway and Donegal but they showed fair pedigree to beat Kerry in McHale Park and all through the league O’Mahony was laying solid foundation blocks for the Summer.

Kieran Conroy and David Heaney backbone a solid defence; Ronan McGarrity and Tom Parsons are a decent midfield pair while up front Pat Harte gives them a bit of ball winning power with the Mortimer
brothers and Austin O’Malley all capable of delivering the direct hits.

Players like Alan Dillon, Aidan Kilcoyne, Billy Joe Padden and Mark Ronaldson are also waiting on the wings should the need arise – Mayo are picking from quite a strong pool.

Galway manager, Liam Sammon, is quietly…