Colin Sheridan: Is 2021 the year Galway finally wakes up

Galway manager Pádraic Joyce talks to his players in a huddle before the FBD League semi-final match between Mayo and Galway at Elverys MacHale Park in Castlebar last year. Picture: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

As Cork’s Luke Connolly bombed a desperate shot skyward into the Páirc Uí Chaoimh night last November, it wasn’t just the fate of Cork and Kerry teetering perilously on the brink, but the narrative of the season itself.

By the time Mark Keane collected on the square’s edge, brushed Tommy Walsh aside, burying his last-gasp winner, the prospect of one of either Mayo or Galway reaching an All-Ireland final went from remote to probable.