Galway rise from the dead in sharing spoils with Kerry

Galway 3-14

IN the space of barely 15 minutes, we went from throwing our hat at, to tipping our hat to, the Galway footballers in wet Tralee on Saturday after an extraordinary fightback against the All-Ireland champions.

There were periods in this Division One league tie when Galway appeared doomed to a hiding from Kerry – they trailed by a dozen points after 47 minutes – but this squad's capacity to rescue apparent lost causes has already been well documented.

They did it against Armagh last day out and would have opened their league campaign against Mayo at Pearse Stadium in similar circumstances only for butchering a heap of goal chances.

Like their results so far – a loss, a win, and a draw – Galway's displays have been a bit of everything, but one trend is undeniable: the Tribesmen simply refuse to give up no matter how serious their predicament is.

That is high-wire football, but Galway's heart and resolve is now such an inherent characteristic of their performances, that you can almost bank on them producing late fireworks.

And in the context of earning an unlikely stalemate, Galway will be left to regret a load of scoring opportunities being dropped short – Ciarán Mulhern was the chief culprit – into the arms of Kerry goalkeeper Shane Murphy. They also conceded two avoidable goals.

Undoubtedly, Galway's seriously understrength team – no Shane Walsh, no Damien Comer, no Cein D'Arcy, no Cillian McDaid, no Liam Silke, no Seán Fitzgerald, no Matthew Thompson, and Dylan McHugh restricted to a substitute role – did a lot wrong at Austin Stack Park, but their ability to grind out results against the odds remains an invaluable asset.

Their raft of replacements, particularly the under-rated Finian O Laoi, helped to turn the tide for Galway, but it was two starters – Matthew Tierney and Shane McGrath – who were the team's outstanding performers in Tralee.

Tierney kept Galway hanging on with some key scores, while the mobile McGrath finished the contest in a blaze of glory, including nailing the equalising two-pointer in the 68th minute. He also set up John Maher’s rocket to the net down the home stretch.

Kerry did have a late chance to snatch the spoils, but substitute Cathal Brosnan’s close-range effort drifted wide of the near post. Frankly, justice was done as Galway’s late fightback from such a grave position deserved some kind of reward.

It’s doubtful if any other team in the land would have had the capacity or belief to have reeled Kerry in from a dozen-point deficit on their own turf. Sure, the All-Ireland champions were short some A-listers including captain, Gavin White, and Paudie Clifford, but blowing a big lead is not in Kerry’s DNA.

Galway’s casualty list is so serious that three players – goalkeeper Eamon McGrath, Ryan Roche and Brian Cogger – made their league debuts. McGrath was at fault for Kerry’s second goal when spilling Dylan Casey’s high delivery to present David Clifford with a routine finish, and there were some other anxious moments, but he made a couple of top-quality saves, and his kick-outs were generally to Galway’s advantage. He deserves further scrutiny at this level.

Cogger, who was turned-over for Kerry’s opening goal from Keith Evans, and Roche were both thrown in at the deep end but will learn from the experience on an evening when, curiously, neither team’s leading marksmen, Rob Finnerty and Sean Ó Shea, managed a score between them.

Pictured: Galway defender Jack Glynn comes under pressure from Kerry's Tony Brosnan during Saturday's Division One League tie in Tralee. Photo: Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile.