Galway had only bite in Big Apple

GALWAY would have been out of this year’s championship had they lost to New York on Sunday.

Connacht GAA chiefs confirmed last night that the fixture does not have any provision for backdoor entry by the losers.

New York came very close to one of the greatest GAA shocks in championships history in the Big Apple but the dismissal of two of their players helped Galway score 1-2 in injury-time to win by 2-13 to 0-12.

Connacht Council secretary John Prenty confirmed that Galway would have been out of this year’s title race had they lost. And he said that a motion would have to be passed by the Connacht Council to change the system for the years ahead.

Roscommon are due to go to the United States next summer and New York, who only lost to Leitrim in extra-time in 2008, will be hopeful of claiming their first-ever win over a visiting team. Prenty said that there is no provision in place which would have allowed Galway back into the championship.

“New York don’t have a place in through the back door so Galway would not have one either if they lost.

“They could have made an application to get in, but I doubt it would have been successful. There is no provision for the losers of that fixture to get back in.

“It’s up to the Connacht Council to change the system if they wish but Leitrim would have been out had they lost in extra-time a couple of years ago and the same would have applied to Galway in New York had won on Sunday,” said Prenty.

Meanwhile, the Galway team finally made it home from the match in New York late last night. Their scheduled flight on Monday did not depart because of the latest difficulties with volcanic ash. They arrived into London Heathrow early yesterday morning and travelled home by ferries from Holyhead and Fishguard to Ireland yesterday.