Galway blow as Fallon retires

GALWAY manager John O’Mahony must plan for next season without Jarlath Fallon after the veteran attacker yesterday announced his retirement from inter-county football.

Fallon (31) has been plagued with injuries in recent years, suffering a cruciate knee ligament tear in 2000 that kept him out of action for almost 12 months. He made the announcement to his team-mates at training on Monday night.

He explained: “I’ve been struggling for the last two years with a knee injury and couldn’t quite get back to the fitness level required to do myself justice with the county.

“I’ve had great innings and have a lot of great memories. Perhaps the biggest was the All-Ireland win in 1998. Prior to that, we had hardly won a Connacht championship match, so when it all came together that year for us, it was something very special.

“Of course, I’m going to miss it. It’s been a part of my life for a number of years, but I’ve a young family now, and, coupled with the injuries, it was becoming harder to keep going.

“The level of fitness required is huge, and unless the game progresses along the Aussies Rule way, where players are in and out of a game every 15 minutes, players’ inter-county careers won’t last beyond 3/4 years in the future.

“I hope to continue playing club football for another few seasons. Tuam Stars have been down for a while now, and this year we got to the county semi-final for the first time in nine years. It would be nice to get back to the top again.

“I might even dabble with rugby again at the local level, but that will be my lot.”

During his career which spanned 13 years, he won two All-Ireland senior medals in 1998 and 2001 and two All-Star awards. He also won numerous titles with his club Tuam Stars.

In a tribute to Fallon, O’Mahony described him as one of the greats of Gaelic football.

“He epitomised all that is good in the game and will be very difficult to replace,” said the Galway manager.

“When I first became involved with Galway in the 90s, Jarlath was playing rugby, and one of my first tasks was to get (him) back playing Gaelic football. He was one of the pieces of the jigsaw we needed and played a major role in our All-Ireland success in 1998.

“He was inspirational for us that year. He was a great role model for young footballers. When we got to the All-Ireland final in 2000, he was injured, but played a key role for us behind the scenes.

“He has played through the pain barrier over the last three seasons and that has been very frustrating for him. You have to respect the decision of a player who has given the kind of service Jarlath has.”