Few sleepless nights but Galway teams end league on a low note
Inside Track with John McIntyre
There won’t be too many sleepless nights in the Galway hurling and football camps following their respective exits from the National League last Sunday, but the manner of both defeats may leave some scare tissue ahead of the upcoming championships.
At half-time in Omagh and at Nowlan Park, the prospects of both the hurlers and footballers reaching the league finals was very strong. Kevin Walsh’s men were leading Tyrone by 1-11 to 0-7, while Joe Canning were company were two points to the good against Waterford with wind advantage to come.
Unfortunately, Galway’s two flagship teams subsequently lost their way. The footballers fell apart defensively when their vulnerability under the high ball was exploited by Tyrone. The nadir was reached when Seán Andy Ó Ceallaigh and goalkeeper Ruairi Lavelle got into a terrible mix-up and presented the opposition’s second goal to Mattie Donnelly.
Seven points clear on the resumption, Galway ended up being beaten by the same margin. The dismissal of Gary O’Donnell obviously didn’t help their cause but, by that juncture, Tyrone had already turned the game around. The Tribesmen only managed a paltry three points in a forgettable second-half display.
At the start of the league, manager Walsh rightly prioritised survival in the Division One given their injury woes – headed by Damien Comer – and the unavailability of the Corofin contingent for most of the campaign. In that context, Galway had exceeded expectations in being masters of their own destiny ahead of the final round of matches last weekend.
A win over Tyrone would have guaranteed the men in maroon a place in the league final for the second year running and after establishing a healthy interval margin with Shane Walsh and Johnny Heaney to the fore, together with an opportunist goal from Danny Cummins, Galway appeared on the brink of again making light of their missing regulars. But it was all downhill from there, highlighted by the concession of three avoidable goals.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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