Michael Daly returns to competitive action for Mountbellew Moylough
MOUNTBELLEW MOYLOUGH forward Michael Daly made his first appearance for his club since 2023 in the Galway Senior Football Championship at the weekend.
After three seasons disrupted by injuries, Daly made his long-awaited return to competitive action for Mountbellew-Moylough in their 0-20 to 0-13 win over Tuam Stars in last Sunday’s Galway Senior Football Championship preliminary quarter-final at Tuam Stadium. Damien McHugh brought him into the action from the bench in the 37th minute.
Daly’s last appearance for Galway came in 2020, having spent four seasons on the senior panel. During that time, he won a Connacht title in 2018 and captained the Galway U21 side that lost to Dublin in the 2017 All-Ireland final.
For Mountbellew-Moylough, his return is another positive boost for Damien McHugh’s charges. Daly’s availability now gives the 2021 county champions another hugely talented option as they look to make further progress.
Had injuries not interrupted his career, Daly would be regarded among the most naturally gifted footballers in the county. With several key players now returning to action, Mountbellew-Moylough are beginning to look increasingly well equipped, and McHugh is getting closer to having his strongest team available.
“It’s been like trying to manage an A and E particularly for parts of the league, we were down an awful lot of bodies” laughed Mountbellew Moylough manager Damien McHugh.
“They’re slowly but surely coming back please god James Foley gets well over the next two weeks, we could do with getting him back. It’s just good to get minutes into Michael Daly and hopefully he can train well over the next two weeks and he’s an option in two weeks time.”
McHugh was pleased with his side’s performance in their Preliminary quarter final win over Tuam Stars last Sunday. John Daly and Michael Burke gave Mountbellew Moylough a huge platform going forward in the half back line. Ciaran Mulhern’s direct running power caused Tuam Stars plenty of problems, while Eoin Finnerty and Barry McHugh combined for 0-13 out of their side’s 0-20.
“We were off a small bit coming into the game, that got the fire going in the boys. I thought we were excellent, Tuam are an excellent team they have been at the business end of the championship for the last 15 years. We knew it was going to be a massive battle, we turned up today and it was great to get over the line,” concluded the Mountbellew Moylough manager.
Mountbellew Moylough now turn their attention to Galway SFC quarter-final clash with reigning county champions Moycullen in a repeat of the 2020 county final.