Time for Tribes to get back amongst the elite

GALWAY captain Kieran Fitzgerald believes the Tribesmen have regained their place amongst the top teams in the land.

All-Ireland champions in 1998 and 2001, the Connacht side have gone through something of a barren spell as the corner stones of those championship winning sides entered retirement or drifted from the panel.

But now Fitzgerald feels that the rebuilding process is reaching a conclusion and it is time for them to start delivering.

“Of course you must have the right blend. Players like Michael Meehan, Sean Armstrong, Alan Burke have come through from the Under-21 team and are fitting in well with the likes of Padraic Joyce, Ja, Declan Meehan and Derek Savage. We feel we have a good mixture. We would hope that the transition is over and we start winning big games again.”

On the credit side, Ja Fallon — one of the heroes of the 1998 All-Ireland final win over the Mick O’Dwyer-managed Kildare — not only made a comeback last year but maintained his commitment in spite of breaking his collarbone in the early stages of the qualifier game against Westmeath in Pearse Stadium.

“Ja is such an influential figure. He has a lot of experience and adds a lot to the team. After that injury there were serious doubts about him returning, but to his credit, he worked hard over the winter and got back to full fitness. He is a great addition to the attack.”

Galway accounted for Mayo in the first round of the championship and Leitrim in the semi-final yet have failed to set the footballing world alight and are still behind Kerry, Tyrone, Dublin and Cork in the bookmakers predictions for Sam Maguire.

Nevertheless, it was felt that against the holders, Galway showed a more aggressive approach than would normally be the case. The captain’s explanation is that it’s the way football has evolved.

“To win big games, not only do you have to work hard. You also have to be aggressive or you’ll be pushed out of the way. Certainly, that’s an aspect of our play that wasn’t to the fore in previous years. But, it’s something we had to add to our game.

“In saying that, we didn’t do that against Leitrim the last day and we were nearly caught.

“We know the level we have to play at if we are to be successful.”

Their meeting with Mayo in the NFL semi-final — regarded as a dress rehearsal for the championship — proved to be beneficial, even in defeat.

“We learned an awful lot from that game. Maybe if we won it would have covered over a lot of our mistakes. Later, we had a good long look at the game. We knew the areas we had to improve on if we were to beat them the next time.”