Keating shines in Galway’s group win over Mayo boys

MAYO 3-12

By PJ Lynch at Tuam Stadium

THE Galway U-17s laid down a marker on Friday evening last at Tuam Stadium as they overcame Mayo in Round 5 of the Connacht Championship.

Though both teams came into the fixture guaranteed of a semi-final fixture against each other, it was Galway who walked away with the victory ahead of that clash at MacHale Park, Castlebar on Friday week.

Both Galway and Mayo had similar results coming into the final round of fixtures, having defeated Leitrim and Sligo while losing out to the form side and the team that one of these sides will face in the Connacht Final, Roscommon.

A large crowd gathered to watch this match, though many had deemed it a non-event as it had no real bearing on the sides’ progression in the Connacht championship. For any who stayed away, they will surely regret it now as everyone in attendance was treated to a wonderful game of football, with fantastic scoring, amazing skill and a brilliant atmosphere despite the disappointing weather.

It was a wet and windy evening in Tuam, but the pitch looked immaculate as the sides crossed the white line onto the playing surface. The main issue for these teams was dealing with an unpredictable wind that constantly changed speed throughout the match, while the ball was slick and slippery – making handling the O’Neill’s a tricky affair.

Galway won the toss and opted to play with the wind in the first half, shooting into the scoreboard end of Tuam Stadium and hoping to use thev elements to their advantage. It was Mayo who struck first. however,. as Tony Carey, who would prove to be a thorn in Galway’s side for the 60 minutes, opened the scoring. Galway equalised three minutes later through Cian Hynes, starting a pattern which would continue for the remainder of the match as the teams would go tit-for-tat, score for score.

Patrick Garvey and Tony Carey would tack on two more points for Mayo, while Ryan Connolly pulled one back for Galway. The first of six goals in this game came after just 11 minutes of play. Patrick Garvey finished well, slotting the ball home past Galway ‘keeper Evan Burke. Barry Keating would score his first point of the day four minutes later to bring it back to a 3-point game.

Pictured: Galway's Barry Keating on the attack against Óisín McCann of Mayo during Friday’s Connacht Minor Football Championship round-robin tie at Tuam Stadium. Photos: David Cunniffe.