Galway aiming for derby league win as midfielder Conroy returns to the fold

The home Connacht derbies against Mayo and Roscommon would have been perceived as winnable matches, while the away clashes against the All-Ireland champions of the past two years, Armagh and Kerry, looked daunting on paper.

Three games in Galway have managed the difficult part so far; rallying to defeat Armagh and last Saturday coming from the clouds to reel in a 12-point deficit against Kerry in earning a vital draw.

First day out, however, Galway stumbled against Mayo at Pearse Stadium. Again, Padraic Joyce’s team caught fire late on and created an avalanche of goal chances but the required efficiency was absent, and their bitter rivals were let off the hook.

So, the results from Galway’s opening three games have gone somewhat against the grain, and if that trend continues at Pearse Stadium (7pm), the Tribesmen wouldn’t want to be counting any chickens ahead of Roscommon’s visit.

So far, the league has been positive for the Rossies. Desperately unlucky to lose to Kerry in the opening round, they then recorded an expected home win over Monaghan before blasting from the blocks against Armagh at Hyde Park last Sunday.

After 20 minutes, Roscommon had surged into a 2-13 to 0-5 lead. Diarmuid Murtagh was on fire up front, landing three two-pointers and their opening goal, while the durable Enda Smith pounced on a misplaced kick-out to fire home their second.

And though Armagh fought back and were only three points adrift at the finish (3-18 to 0-24), Paul Carey’s second half goal for the hosts ensured Roscommon were always doing enough in registering their second victory of the campaign.

They have clearly got a bounce from the arrival of new manager Mark Diowd and still have most of their St Brigid’s contingent to return. From what we have seen from Roscommon to date, they have the capacity to push Galway to the wire in Salthill.

After their late heroics in Tralee, the men in maroon will also be in good fettle, Joyce still has a heap of regulars missing, but John Maher’s return is a big boost as is the current form of Matthew Tierney and young Shane McGrath, who hit the levelling two-pointer.

Galway’s use of the bench helped to turn things around. Finnian Ó Laoi, Daniel O’Flaherty and Dylan McHugh all made an impact, with the likes of Sean Kelly, Cian Hernon, Jack Glynn and Johnny McGrath improving as the match progressed.

Pictured: Galway's Shane McGrath tussling for possession with Cillian Trant of Kerry during Saturday's National Football League encounter at Austin Stack Park. Photos: Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile