Rejuvenated Tribesmen put out of sorts Donegal men to the sword

DONEGAL 0-14

KIPLING’S observation about treating the two impostors of triumph and disaster just the same could well become the mantra of Galway footballers as they followed up their Connacht final collapse against Roscommon with probably their best display of the season when overcoming Donegal at Markievicz Park.

This 4A final qualifying game for a quarter-final place in the All-Ireland series looked set to be a finely balanced encounter, but who could have predicted when the mists blew in over Ben Bulben shortly before 9pm on Saturday evening last that Galway would have 15 points to spare over their Division 1 opponents.

It is all about balance at this stage of the hectic summer schedule and while the heavy defeat against Roscommon didn’t make Galway the worst team in the world, last weekend’s demolition of Donegal hasn’t made them the best either. The are somewhere in the middle . . . but this week, it’s a ‘good middle’ to be in.

There was though a refreshing vigour to Galway’s play and attitude against Donegal that has helped to pour some balm on the open sores that were slow to heal after the Connacht final.

The ‘reward’ is of course  the toughest of examinations against Kerry this weekend, but Croke Park is still the place to be on the last Sunday in July when the real business of the championship commences.

So, what was the difference between a Galway side that took a nine-points pasting against Roscommon on July 9 and the one that had five goals to spare over Donegal just 13 days later?

A lot of it can probably be attributed to the grey matter area between the ears and that most elusive of allies on big sporting occasions, namely the mental ability to focus on the task in hand. It’s where body and mind come together and fuse into one.

Against Roscommon, Galway were wiped when it came to winning primary possession but on Saturday evening in Yeats Country, Kevin Walsh’s players between the two 45s won the majority of the key 50-50 battles for possession and won them well.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.