Footballers depart with their heads held high

Ten minutes into the second half of this round four qualifier Galway led by five points . . . with just over six minutes remaining on the clock Alan Mulholland’s side were still three up . . . but in the end the effort was just unsustainable with Cork introducing a super-sub gang of heavy-hitters to get them over the line.

It was an emotional and heart-breaking end for a Galway team that had hit rock bottom just over two months previously when Mayo administered a 17 point humiliation but somewhere from the ashes of that brush fire, there was a rekindling of hope and spirit.

In the end, of course, it was a defeat by the narrowest of margins despite a late thunderbolt dead ball strike from Michael Meehan, but over the past month or so from the humblest of beginnings, some solid foundation stones have been laid.

Cork, the All-Ireland champions of 2010, have a team on paper that looks a match for any other outfit in the country with the physique of rugby No. 8s to complement their footballing skills, but for some reason their team package falls a long way short of the sum of their parts.

For all that, it must be said that Cork did create at least six clear-cut goal chances over the course of the hour, but a combination of the woodwork, bad misses and three inspirational saves from Galway goalkeeper Manus Breathnach had looked set to deny Conor Counihan’s side a major score.

With 64 minutes gone on the clock, and Cork still without a goal after missing an array of chances, the feeling was just creeping into the minds of the smallish but quite vociferous Galway crowd that this just might be their day – one of the shocks of the year seemed about to happen.

Beleaguered Cork Manager Conor Counihan in a darker moment must have visualised the P45 dangling in front of him on the dressingroom door but the introduction of power subs such as Paul Kerrigan, Paudie Kissane, Donncha O’Connor and Paddy Kelly just carried too much punch for a Galway side pretty much out on their feet.

When Galway moved the ball quickly, and ran straight at the heart of the Cork defence, the result was refreshingly positive with the quality of scores delivered mainly by Sean Armstrong, Michael Meehan and Paul Conroy, all of the highest order.

The whole ethos of Galway football down through the years has been based on the vibrancy of their attacking play and fuelled by a flush of confidence, following the three previous qualifying rounds successes, their attacking play was a rather pleasant reminder of times past.

Cork though are the team that march on to the All-Ireland quarter-final and while Galway can take justifiable solace from the intensity and focus of their performance, the trick is not to get too carried away, but at last a decent start has been in the job of rebuilding a team that can be competitive with the top teams in the country.

A lot of July consolations for Galway and although manager Alan Mulholland might have been under pressure in the wake of the Mayo defeat, the displays against Armagh and Cork do indicate that at last, some of the foundation stones for a settled team have been laid. There is a long winter ahead but at last a chink of light has entered into what had been a very dark tunnel.

For a detailed match report see this week's Connacht Sentinel