Gritty Galway keep finding a way down home straight
Go all the way back to their opening fixture at home to Cork on February 5 and as the clock ticked into the second minute of stoppages, the westerners trailed by 1-11 to 0-12.
Away to Fermanagh next time out, they played second fiddle right up to the final quarter. Against Derry in round five, they trailed by three and four-point margins at separate junctures in the second period.
On Sunday afternoon at Croke Park – a venue where not one member of Kevin Walsh’s panel had tasted victory at senior inter-county level, the scoreboard had them 0-14 to 0-11 in arrears as the game entered the concluding quarter of an hour. That Kildare had outscored them by 0-8 to 0-3 during the previous 15 minutes suggested this was a gap that may prove beyond the Tribesmen.
But just as Cillian McDaid and Cathal Sweeney kicked injury-time points to salvage a draw against the Rebels and just as Johnny Heaney’s 60th minute goal at Tuam Stadium turned the tide in their favour when reeling in Derry, Galway found a way to grind out a result in the Division 2 decider.
The five points they notched when kicking for home was the largest unbroken scoring sequence in Sunday’s curtain-raiser and that five different players chipped in showed this is a team not solely reliant on Paul Conroy’s industry or Shane Walsh’s trickery.
“Our response after we fell three behind was brilliant,” said captain Gary O’Donnell.
“When we went three points down, in comparison to previous years, we are not panicking when we get into situations like that. Talking to people who are watching our games, they’d say there is a kick in us now.
“That is testament to the huge character in the dressing-room. Regardless of what stage the game is at, we’re always capable of coming back into the game or winning it late on.
“We’ve different game-plans if the game isn’t going for us. We’ve a plan B and C. And the quality of player is there for us to carry it out. Players have made huge improvements over the last three years.”
Noticeable too is the contribution off the bench in getting Galway out of the many sticky situations they’ve found themselves in.
McDaid and Sweeney weren’t long on the field when they landed those crucial points in the opening fixture, while Shane Walsh tallied 1-1 during their strong finish against the Oak Leaf County. It was no different on Sunday. Michael Daly threw over a brace, the second of which was instigated by fellow replacement Damien Comer, with Gareth Bradshaw also finding the range upon his introduction.
“The lads that came on against Kildare pushed us over the line.”
“Since the start of the year, we’ve only lost one game. That was by a point to Meath. We’ve loads to work on, but at the same time, we’ve the foundations there to build on. It’s great. Confidence is building. Competition for places is absolutely fierce as you can see with the subs bench and the lads coming back from injury. There are huge positives heading into the summer.” Chief among them being the lifting of their Croke Park jinx.
“To win at Croke Park is another monkey off the back. We’ve got here three or four times in the last couple of years, and we’ve got used to our surroundings. The win came when it needed to.
“Anytime you put silverware on the table is good going and an indication you are going in the right direction. We certainly are under Kevin.”
To get the latest episode of PaperTalk automatically, SUBSCRIBE ON iTUNES
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
