Scenes of celebration shows what success over old foes means to Galway football

Galway are back in business!

They’ve won no silverware – yet – but this ambush of Mayo in Castlebar will go a long way to restoring pride in the county’s flagship football team.

Beating Mayo in the Connacht senior football championship semi-final has already lifted the gloom and cloud of indifference that had descended on Galway football in recent seasons.

It was sorely needed.

After several years of decline and re-building, and operating in the shadows of the hurlers and Connacht Rugby this season, the Galway footballers have the county’s sports-mad followers enthused once more. People now care about Galway football again.

That was evident by the frenzied pitch invasion and celebrations at McHale Park on Saturday evening.

There wasn’t a huge Galway contingent in the crowd of 21,784, but boy did they make their presence felt, particularly when Athenry midfielder Tom Flynn struck for a game-changing second-half goal. That cracker set Galway up for this 1-12 to 0-12 win – one of the shocks of the Summer.

The on-field celebrations had to be seen to be believed. Hundreds and hundreds of supporters in maroon and white greeted the final whistle by flooding onto the pitch to congratulate the players.

Forwards Shane Walsh and Damien Comer were carried shoulder high as fans belted out the Fields of Athenry.

The winners posed for photos with family, friends and faithful fans; they signed autographs and shook hands with all-comers.

A good hour later, and Galway supporters lingered on. They didn’t want to go home, or for it to end. Who could blame them?

Victory over Mayo is always celebrated with gusto in Galway. But this was something else, perhaps reflecting the surprise nature of the feat – nobody outside of the camp realistically predicted it. And the joyous celebrations also highlighted how Mayo have been completely dominant in the province for the past five years.

The Galway players’ reaction of unbridled joy at the final whistle was as much relief as it was anything else. Relief at finally getting the upper-hand over Mayo, who had reigned supreme in Connacht for the past five seasons, and entered this clash as red-hot favourites.

Many of them were on the end of bad-beatings in recent championships when Mayo were merciless. They were entitled to celebrate reversing the trend and causing the mother of all upsets.

Remember, too, that this was a Mayo team that ran Dublin closest last season, drawing with the eventual champions in the All-Ireland semi-final.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.