Tribesmen bidding to record first championship win over Kerry since 1965

IT’S now close on 53 years since Galway last beat Kerry in the senior football championship when they lowered the colours of the Kingdom in the All-Ireland series for the third year in a row . . .  since then though, the balance of power has switched inexorably to the Munster men.

Galway’s 0-12 to 0-9 victory over Kerry on the All-Ireland final day of September 26, 1965 – after a quite tough and bad-tempered match – completed the county’s greatest era of dominance over their old Munster rivals.

Now, well over a half-century later, what would Galway give to try and at least partially redress the results imbalance that has emerged since Kerry started off their contemporary period of dominance with a 2-17 to 0-11 win over the Connacht champions in the All-Ireland semi-final of 1984.

Since then, the closest Galway have come to Kerry was in the All-Ireland final of 2010 when the sides played out a pulsating draw in the first match (a match that Galway probably could have ‘sneaked’ at the death) before being beaten in the replay by 0-17 to 1-10.

After that though, the results sheet against Kerry, paints a grim picture for Galway with four quarter-final defeats following on in 2002 (2-17 to 1-12); 2008 (1-21 to 1-16); 2014 (1-20 to 2-10) and last year (1-18 to 0-13).

So, it’s probably little wonder that this week the bookies have Kerry as odds on favourites to continue on their winning ways against Galway on Sunday in Croke Park (4pm). Paddy Power’s have Kerry at 2/5, Galway at 3/1 and the draw at 8/1.

This history and the betting though won’t be given any lodging place this week in the minds of the Galway management and players who will be focusing exclusively on the present tense and in a continuing a rich line of form through 2018.

Although Galway were soundly beaten last by Kerry in the quarter-finals last year, manager Kevin Walsh felt that if his side had taken their goal chances last year, the outcome could have been a lot different.

“We took a lot of criticism last year after that defeat to Kerry and especially from within our own county, but that day we had four or five goal chances that we didn’t take.

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