Hunger strikes as Galway look to end league famine

THE common perception after Galway’s epic double duel with Tyrone was that the Connacht side had finally rediscovered their appetite for the big occasion. Not so, says keeper Alan Keane. It simply never left.

Prior to the deadlock in Omagh, the jury was still out on whether John O'Mahony's side, so well endowed with talent, could regain the verve and irresistible style of 1998 or 2001.

Last year, Galway reigned in Connacht without ever having to find their stride but eventually bowed out of the championship surprisingly to Donegal in an All-Ireland quarter-final replay at McHale Park.

Those persistent question marks over the team's immediate future were put to bed emphatically in Healy Park and Pearse Stadium over the last fortnight but Keane feels the perception of the county in the last 24 months was never accurate. It was simply a question of rediscovering their balance.

"The hunger was never gone," Keane said yesterday. "There's a few young lads who have come in there like Kieran Fitzgerald, he's only 22, Mike Meehan, Matt Clancy. They're all still young lads with plenty of miles left in the engine yet.

"The few older lads are great to have in the dressing room as well the de Paors and Kevin Walsh lads with a lot of experience. Lads like PJ [Padraig Joyce] and Michael Donnellan are playing great stuff as well and hopefully we'll see more of it."

That said, the imposingly tall custodian accepts that the dismissal of Tyrone was a major step in the side's evolution. Kerry may have banished some of their All-Ireland semi-final demons with the battling defeat in Omagh at the start of the month, but Galway's win leaves them on higher psychological ground come Sunday.

"Going up there was a big job," he agreed. "We had a few injuries but Tyrone had as well. We were very satisfied the first day with the way we worked, the way we hounded them. Getting them back down to Galway was a big plus but pitches don't win the game. Determination wins a game. We got a few lucky breaks the last day and Padraig and Mike Meehan are doing well for us up front."

Yet, if that gives Galway a slight mental superiority, the toll of those two extra-time tussles in eight days may count against them. For Keane, that simply isn't a consideration.

"Every footballer wants to play games," he reasoned. "They don't want to be left in training. Games are the most important thing. We got plenty of rest. We hadn't much to do last Wednesday or the Wednesday before the Tyrone game just the swimming pool and things like that.

"The games will bring you on more than the training. Everyone is focused on Sunday. There's a big job in hand but hopefully we'll be up to it."

All in all, it's a far cry from the traumatic destruction at Mattie Forde's hands just over five weeks ago when Keane "had to bend the back five times". Yet, with their opening championship game against London almost a month in the distance, Galway can give it their all to win a long overdue league title.

"The focal point of the year is the championship which starts in six weeks' time but the more important thing at the moment is Sunday," Keane said.

"It's the second biggest title in football. 1981 is the last time Galway won the National Football League so Sunday is hugely important."