Kingdom can shackle Galway’s forward threat

THERE would be a fair degree of unanimity that Galway footballers are not in the same class as Kerry, their opponents in the second of the All-Ireland quarter-finals in Croke Park this afternoon (4pm).

And while that on its own won’t decide the outcome, it indicates that Liam Sammon’s team will need to perform consistently at a high level if they are to record their first championship win over the Kingdom since 1965.

That was in the middle final of their three-in-a-row sequence (with Sammon a member of the ‘66 side) and it’s coincidental that Kerry are this year chasing the first treble since they themselves achieved it in 1986.

Galway made hard work of beating Mayo in the Connacht final, a game in which team captain Padraic Joyce — enjoying a new lease of life at centre-forward — represented the difference between the teams.

They play an attractive brand of football, with Matthew Clancy, Michael Meehan and — most recently — Cormac Bane — also to the forefront in attack.

However, their defence doesn’t have as settled a look about it, even though Finian Hanley won a lot of praise for his performance in Castlebar. And, it’s in the full-back line where the biggest questions will be asked of them, now that Tommy Walsh’s promising display last Sunday suggests that his fledgling partnership with Kieran Donaghy has the potential to reap a rich dividend.

However, the match won’t exactly be won and lost in around that area of the field, unless Kerry manage to control the flow of possession from their half back line and midfield. That’s unlikely, for the reason that Galway have the scoring power to inflict a lot of damage themselves on the Kerry defence. And, as we saw against Monaghan, the team’s redemption from their Munster final defeat remains a work in progress.

Based on the performance last weekend — and there is every possibility this game will bring them on a lot — there is scope for improvement in the full-back line, at midfield and in the half-forward line. Pat O’Shea recognises that they need to play a lot better because, on paper, they are meeting stronger opposition (even though Joe Bergin is a huge loss). On the other hand, they have the assurance of knowing that they have a lot of strength in the substitutes panel. Indeed, Eoin Brosnan in particular is unlucky not to be starting, but he seems certain to make a contribution either way. And a return to scoring form by Colm Cooper would enhance their prospects of advancing.

Verdict: Kerry