Kernan: We didn’t play in the first-half

IT was another Connacht championship afternoon fraught with tension for Joe Kernan.

On the opening weekend of May, Kernan sampled his first taste of provincial football at the helm of the Tribesmen when they endured a rickety ride to success on Stateside against New York. The spectre of an early summer exit had loomed large in that game and yesterday in Pearse Stadium, the prospect manifested itself once more.

As he trooped into the dressing-room at half-time, the big Crossmaglen man prepared to rouse his Galway troops as they stared at a nine-points deficit. It took a stirring second-half revival, with a late injury-time blast of 1-2, to save Galway and maintain their interest in the destination of the 2010 Connacht football spoils.

“It certainly wasn’t scripted that way,” remarked a relieved Kernan at the finish. “We are very disappointed with the way we performed (in the first half) as some of the things we did were very poor. We have to improve. But a lot of it is down to playing regularly. We had 12 or 14 boys coming back from injury over the last three or four months. The eight weeks without a competitive match had a big impact. I like to instil in teams that it is never over until the final whistle and certainly that was the case today. We didn’t play well but we are still in the championship.”

Galway’s cause was not helped by the dismissal of Sean Armstrong for a second yellow card in the 40th minute, a decision by referee David Coldrick which Kernan questioned. “The sending off, which I thought was very unfair, had a big impact. Sean was getting some abuse and he pushed a man and got a yellow card for it. Then he dived in on somebody and it wasn’t a dirty tackle and got booked,’’ Kernan said. “We had a few boys singled out today and nothing seemed to happen. And obviously the handpass rule has been done away with again. That was obvious to see today.” Kernan paid tribute to the scoring exploits of the long-serving Páraic Joyce and the composure exhibited by Gareth Bradshaw in nailing that last-gasp free.

“In fairness to Gareth he showed a lot of bottle kicking that point. It was a pressure kick and what you want to see is somebody volunteering for that. He took it and he put it over. Then Páraic is one of the greatest player the GAA has seen over the last ten or 15 years. He is lethal when he gets a chance.”

Kernan’s upbeat post-match mood was in sharp contrast to a dejected Kevin Walsh who emerged from a crestfallen Sligo dressing-room. This match was within Sligo’s hands for long stages but it slipped away at the finish. “The boys are gutted inside but they’ll have to experience these days to become a serious team. We’re disappointed that we didn’t take it home with us. We all know the game is 75 or 76 minutes long and that’s what it was. We certainly had enough chances to tag on a point or two against the wind every now and again. Our right half back had one, the corner back had one. David Kelly fisted a ball off the post.

“We didn’t do it on the day, that’s life we played some great football in the first half.”

Walsh insisted he can lift his charges for Saturday evening’s replay.

“They’ve had to lift it on numerous occasions during the year. I know from the outside you might be thinking it’s only Division Three but there were times when they had to lift it in the middle of games during the year. It was always going to be huge ask for us to win a Connacht title and we’re still in the middle of it.

“We’re back in Markievicz Park and still in the championship.’’