Long and tortuous road lies ahead of Mulholland

THE ray of hope which was provided by the Galway footballers in their unexpected opening round National League victory over Derry has already been extinguished – at least, for the time being – in the space of a month. It hasn’t taken long for reality to bite for the new team management and, clearly, a long, aand perhaps tortuous, road lies ahead of Alan Mulholland and his mentors in striving to revive the county’s fortunes.

The mood was all so different early last month when a youthful Galway selection travelled to Celtic Park for the team’s Division Two debut. There wasn’t a whole lot of confidence behind them for that fixture against Derry, but the Tribesmen emerged comfortable winners on a day most of the energy and intensity came from Gareth Bradshaw and his team-mates. Promotion was already been talked about as a realistic target.

There was a nagging suspicion, however, that Derry weren’t up to much and the bare result might have flattered Galway. Just seven days later, the more circumspect team supporters were somewhat vindicated when Finian Hanley and company failed to build on a good opening against Louth at Pearse Stadium, lost their way and were lucky to hang on for a draw against wasteful opponents.

It wasn’t an alarming display by any means and there was always the possibility that the Galway camp was still a big giddy after taking the scalp of Derry, a scenario which might have affected their focus for the visit of Louth. With the league then taking a three-week break, it afforded the management and players some time to regroup for their next outing against what was regarded as the weakest team in Division Two – Westmeath.

The Midlanders might have inflicted a shock championship defeat on Galway in 2009, but they have been in relative decline since and the fact that they are still missing the influential Garrycastle contingent – Dessie Dolan and his team-mates are currently preparing for the All-Ireland Club final – suggested that Westmeath were there for the taking. Pat Flanagan’s squad hadn’t been beaten much by Louth in the opening round, but they were trounced by Meath at home the following Sunday.

But making assumptions about matches involving Galway footballers has been fraught with risk in recent years and there was further pain for the county in Mullingar last Sunday. No matter how you attempt to dress it up, losing to a weakened Westmeath outfit is a bad result, especially having forged a hard-earned two point lead with time running out. It wasn’t going to represent a blemish-free effort but, at least, Galway would get the result and have five points in the bag after three league outings.

Unfortunately, they weren’t even able to hang on as a Westmeath outfit, which had battled hard all day, turned the screw from there to the finish. Scores from Denis Glennon and the returning John Heslin brought them level before Paul Bannon send over the winning point in the fifth minute of injury time. It was a sickening defeat for Galway, particularly as this had appeared their easiest fixture of the campaign. 

With the likes of in-form Tyrone, Meath and Kildare coming down the tracks, the prospect of relegation has suddenly loomed into focus. Once again, winning primary possession was a big problem for Galway who must have known that they were in big trouble at half-time when only on level terms – six points apiece – having been backed by the elements. A lack of directness, unforced errors and a bout of poor shooting just before the break were all contributing to the team’s woes.

For more, read this week's Connacht Tribune.