Callanan keeps feet planted as Galway eye league decider
“The panel was freshened up at the start of the year and in a way all the injuries have helped the new guys as they’re getting game-time they mightn’t otherwise have got,” he said.
“Several of the regulars of the past few years, the likes of Joe Canning, Damien Hayes, Damien Joyce, Shane Kavanagh, Fergal Moore, were out with injuries while a few more guys coming and going with niggly knocks.
“A couple of young fellas though have shown good promise, they have the jersey now and they’ll want to hold onto that. It’s been tough, the physiotherapists have been flat out every evening but every team has its own injury troubles.”
Galway haven’t fared too badly this spring despite such off field concerns. Five games played, four wins and one loss leaves them top of the Division One table and on the brink of a league decider and Callanan can take plenty of credit for their most recent success. Last weekend wing forward Eanna Ryan scored a late goal against Dublin at Parnell Park before Callanan produced two stunning stops to deny the Dubs anything from the tie. All in a day’s work says the modest netminder.
“We had our goal, we did win the game by that goal, and I suppose the fact that the two saves happened right at the death stuck in people’s minds, but if it had happened in the first minute of the game there wouldn’t have been a word. The way I look at it is that I was just doing my job. If either had gone past I’d have been very disappointed.
“I wouldn’t get carried away no matter what happens. You don’t just take every game as it comes, you take every minute of every game as it comes; there’s no point in either looking forward or looking back, wondering what you might do next or what you might have done differently.”
It is this philosophy that helped Callanan make those saves, but in a wider sense, a mindset that has seen Galway surge to the top of the league even in a season where they are cursed with injuries. There is little talk of their woes, instead, the focus has been on the here and now.
A few of those injuries – to full-back Shane Kavanagh especially – has left the goalkeeper with different faces in front of him, not the ideal scenario in an area where communication and understanding is crucial.
“No, and being from the same club as Shane there’s obviously a good understanding between us. But to be fair to both John Lee and Ciarán O’Donoghue (both of whom have played full-back) they didn’t do too much wrong in the games they played, and Ciarán was very good the last day.”
Very good indeed – no goals conceded against a dangerous Dublin attack, and just 14 points. “True, but Dublin also had 19 wides and if they had converted even half of those we’d have been in trouble – two ways you can look at that, that we created so much pressure they were forced to put the ball wide, or that they were creating too many chances.”
Tomorrow, Tipperary come to Galway. The sides last met in the All-Ireland SHC quarter-final, which the Premier won en route to September glory. Callanan insists the heartbreaking manner of that defeat will have no bearing on tomorrow’s encounter
“No; it’s a new year, and it’s a league game. It’s our last game in Galway for 2011 so hopefully we’ll get a good turnout and make another league final. Tipperary are getting better as the weeks go by, they went to Cork last week and got a draw, a tough thing to do. We’re under no illusions as to the task facing us but we’d see ourselves up there with any of them. On any given day we can beat anyone, but I suppose the flip side of that is that on any given day they feel they can beat us.”
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