Galway lacking midfield to play hard ball
That hard ball must be won if a team is going to go anywhere in Gaelic football, because the crumbs are just as important as spectacular big catches from kick-outs. If Galway want to compete anywhere close to the top tier of intercounty football they must find a few of these scavengers – vultures who will plough in around midfield and win the dirty hard carpet ball that Dooher and Galvin thrive on.
Let me earn my corn here and not flinch; Galway have not had a genuine midfield for the past five six or seven years. That is hardly a state secret.
However Garry O’Donnell and 2007 All-Ireland minor winning captain Paul Conroy are not the answer, nor is Barry Cullinane. Yesterday in Markievicz Park it was Sligo who won midfield.
Tony Taylor and Eugene Mullen worked hard and snaffling up the loose ball were Eamonn O’Hara, Ross Donovan and Johnny Davey. Kevin Walsh had his team well prepared and the pace of David Kelly in particular and Adrian Marren caused Niall Coyne and Damien Burke plenty of anxious moments.
At 0-12 to 0-12, most of the Galway supporters in the ground would have taken a draw with glee. Only for two superb saves from Adrian Faherty in the Galway goal, all those, who had Sligo at 6/1 would have had their groceries for this week paid for. As I wrote here on Saturday, Sligo at plus-six were great value.
Let’s look at the Galway positives first: Sean Armstrong had a very impressive game and ended with 1-3 from play.
Likewise Finian Hanley had a powerful game at full-back and was master of all he surveyed. His injury is a concern prior to a Connacht final, especially with club championship games in the county next weekend. Diarmuid Blake was solid at six and he stopped a lot of Sligo traffic down the middle.
The negative list, though, is a long one. I have mentioned how Galway struggle at midfield and expecting Padraig Joyce to dominate a game from centre-forward at this stage of his career is asking too much. He did kick 0-3 from play and set up a few scores for Meehan and Armstrong but if the opposition centre-back attacks, Joyce does not have the legs to work back.
That may not be critical in Connacht, but if Galway were to get to Croke Park it would be.
Galway did not utilise Michael Meehan effectively yesterday and he only kicked two points from play. They also seem to have adopted this “rotation” policy that Dublin engaged in the past few seasons.
It was rubbish then and it’s rubbish now. Meehan needs to be on the edge of the square or roving around there, instead he was out at wing-forward, in the corner and drifting from pillar to post. He is a proven score-getter and he must be kept near to goals.
After Armstrong shot his three points in the first 20 minutes and was killing Neil Ewing at corner forward, he switched with Joe Bergin to wing-forward: a crazy move. If you have a forward who is making hay, leave him there and feed him lots of ball. Don’t take him out of the position.
Where do the teams go from here? Sligo are into round 2 of the qualifiers on July 11 and depending on who they get they will give it a good rattle. Kevin Walsh’s maiden season has been a success, but he will rue their missed goal chances and he will know they had a glorious opportunity for a massive triumph.
Galway must improve enormously if they are to defeat Mayo in three weeks time. That is not being a cute hoor.
It’s just calling it as I see it. Mayo scored 3-18 against a poor Roscommon side, but they looked very fit, organised and they have lots of options off the bench. Galway don’t.
Finally, a hugely worrying trend for Galway is that they looked very leg-weary in the last 15 minutes of their final league games, beaten by Mayo and Kerry in a canter. That happened yesterday as well.
If a limited team, which Galway are, are flying fit they have some chance, but if the hard work has not been done in the early part of the season, you will be found out in July and August.
That’s what I expect to happen with Liam Sammon’s men.
