Kernan: Galway must recall past pain

GALWAY manager Joe Kernan has told his players to remember the pain of their Connacht final defeat to Sligo in 2007 ahead of the latest meeting between the counties on Sunday.

Almost three years have passed since a side managed by Tommy Breheny upset all the odds to claim a first senior provincial title – and a first championship win against Galway – since 1975.

Eamon O’Hara’s classy 24th-minute goal was the highlight in a game which was by and large a tight affair but the scenes at Dr Hyde Park at the final whistle topped everything that preceded it.

“It was a fantastic performance from Sligo that day,” said Kernan. “The lads have mentioned it this week and there is no doubt that they deserved the win. They had great appetite that day but I’m hoping our lads will remember that hurt this weekend.”

Kernan had other things on his mind that day. Armagh were playing Derry 70 miles away in Clones in an All-Ireland qualifier that very afternoon and a one-point defeat courtesy of an injury-time winner from Colin Devlin brought the curtain down on Big Joe’s six-year tenure.

A stint as Ulster manager and various media commitments kept him in touch with the game for the next few years until last September when he agreed to take over the county where his mother was born.

He has already dipped his toe back into championship waters with Galway’s unconvincing defeat of New York in early May but Sunday will mark his true return to a competition he has graced so elegantly as a player and manager.

He can hardly wait. “I’m looking forward to it. There is always that air of nervousness coming up to the championship and I feel that again this week. That shows that I’m up for it and I know the players feel the same.

“You want them to feel those butterflies coming up to the big games. They should be feeling that way but I want them to show a bit of steeliness that maybe wasn’t there before when the game starts.”

Kernan would appear to be exactly what the doctor ordered for a Galway side that has been loaded with talent this past decade but light on the bite that every county needs to compete at the most rarified level.

The county has consistently failed to marry the two. Peter Forde swung too far in the direction of grunt and Liam Sammon leaned unapologetically in the way of guile. Kernan’s job is to find the middle ground.

Sligo will be the perfect litmus test for the latest experiment. Two years of unchecked progression under Kevin Walsh has come on the back of well-drilled, hungry players eager to push the county’s horizons.

Their hunger during the quarter-final defeat of Mayo in Markievicz Park at the start of the month was staggering and it allowed them to boss the midfield period for large periods of the game.

Galway’s engine room has long been an area of concern and their half-backs, midfielders and half-forwards will have to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty if they want to reach a Connacht final this summer.

“I want to see that same hunger in this Galway team and I believe that they can do better than they have done in the last few years. There is no reason why the Galway lads shouldn’t be as hungry.

“We have tried to add a few things to the setup since we came on board but without taking away from the flair that Galway teams have traditionally had down the years.

“We put up a few very high scores in the league while trying to make things tighter at the back and I was encouraged by some of the performances in the league even though we only won three of the games.”

Whatever happens in Pearse Stadium, there will be no talk of an ambush. Events three years ago would have seen to that by themselves but Galway also have the benefit of a refresher course in Markievicz Park last summer.

The sides were neck and neck down the final stretch in their last encounter when Galway broke a late siege to claim a point through Joe Bergin and Sean Armstrong followed up with a gift of a goal.

The four-point difference at the final whistle was grossly unfair on the home side who had trailed by eight points to two at one stage. No, Kernan doesn’t need any reminder as to the task ahead this week.

“Sligo have come on in leaps and bounds in the last few years. They have won something like their last seven or eight games and that in itself is enough to give them a lot of confidence.

“Anyone I spoke to when I first came on board last year was always telling me that Galway had to be ready for Mayo in the championship and even then I was telling people not to write off Sligo.

“They won’t fear us just like they didn’t fear Mayo.”