In-form Galway to carry too much firepower for surprise packets Tipperary
THE big guns might be still firing but these are strange times indeed in the world of Gaelic football – just five weeks ago, who would have predicted that Galway would be Connacht champions and squaring up to Tipperary in an All-Ireland quarter-final.
As we face into the latter half of Summer and the peak of the hot season in terms of do-or-die championship action, the script has been well truly discarded with many of the results snubbing their noses at tradition.
Galway will be hoping on Sunday that in the generous expanses of Croke Park (4pm) there will be a steadying up of the form book as they meet a Tipperary side fairly buoyed up by their dramatic 1-21 to 2-17 last sixteen win over Derry.
Tipperary laid down an early season marker with their shock win over Cork and while their Munster final defeat at the hands of Kerry might have slipped into the disappointing category, the Derry victory will have given them a huge energy and confidence surge.
The prize though is huge for Galway with the prospect of a first All-Ireland semi-final appearance since 2001 now dangling in front of them – the possibility of Kevin Walsh and his charges taking anything for granted against Liam Kearns’ side is negligible.
So far it has been a very good championship for Galway – at last they seem to have added a bit of steel to their game – but it would really stick in the craw, if, after going this far, they slipped up to Tipp on Sunday.
“When you get to the quarter-final stage every team is there on merit and this Tipperary team just hasn’t come out of nowhere.
“They won an All-Ireland minor a few years back and probably should have won the under-21 last year – a lot of those lads are used to winning and they’ll really look forward to the Croke Park challenge,” said Galway boss Walsh.
He said that injury wise, Galway had pretty much a clean sheet since the Roscommon replay while the week’s extra break in the run-up to the quarter-final was welcome.
“We won’t look for one second past Sunday but there is a huge prize out there for us. This match is the gateway to an All-Ireland semi-final but all our games have been big ones this year,” he said.
The Killanin clubman also made a special appeal for the supporters to turn out in force for Sunday’s tie, citing the role they had played in the previous games against Mayo and Roscommon.
For more, read this week's Galway City Tribune.