Galway throw off the shackles with poise and purpose

When players have real belief that their team is good enough to win a Championship game, then we see good decision-making and football played with a real purpose, writes John Divilly.

Their style is aggressive and they are proactive. However, if players go into a game with fear or a lack of real belief, then their decision-making will be tentative, passive and reactive. Galway were the former yesterday while Sligo were the latter.

Championship football is meant to be the hardest, meanest, and toughest. No quarters asked or given. Galway brought this mantra to the table in the first quarter in Pearse Stadium, while Sligo were in bank-holiday mode. It was epic Galway at times and they had time and space to play the game on their terms. But how did Galway create these terms?