Galway footballers falter down the home stretch
GALWAY 0-11
DONEGAL 3-12
THE workrate, the honesty and the commitment were all there aplenty but when it came to the crunch at Croke Park on Saturday evening, Galway footballers found themselves a level or two below Donegal in terms of championship craft, ball winning power and finishing sharpness.
While the 10 point winning margin was, in the end, rough justice on Galway, there could be no quibble about the overall result – for long stages this game was there to be won by either side, but when the pressure came on, Donegal had the power players in the key sectors.
After decent performances against Armagh and Derry, the big question being asked in the run-up to this 4B final qualifier was whether Galway could lift their game from mid-table Division 2 football to hacking it with the big guns in late Summer – in the end, the answer was a pretty emphatic no.
Defensive concerns close to their own goal, the ability of the Galway midfield to cope with seriously strong physical challenges, and the inability of their forwards to create anything by way of serious goal chances, left the door open for Donegal to advance to an All-Ireland quarter-final joust with Mayo.
To win matches, 10 or 12 players from the starting line-up should be tripping off the lips in terms of notable individual performances, but as the Galway supporters trooped down Jones’ Road after this match, it was hard to pick more than three or four of the side who were better than their Donegal counterparts.
As expected, the beaten Ulster finalists defended in layers but Galway weren’t exactly behind the door either in terms of getting bodies back behind the ball – for long chunks of this match, this was cat and mouse stuff: in the end though it was Donegal who had by far the sharper claws.
Galway would have hoped for a bright start but found themselves chasing the game early on after Paddy McBrearty goaled from close range in the sixth minute, after the impressive Colm McFadden had slipped the challenge of Johnny Duane far too easily.
Full match report in this week's Connacht Tribune.