Battle of the benches: Kerry back-up brigade could have big say in Galway decider

Of the 11 subs on the Galway bench for the Mayo game, eight of them - James Keane, Johnny McGrath, Billy Mannion, Tony Gill, Patrick Kelly, Owen Gallagher, Cormac McWalter, and Tomo Culhane - had never played senior championship in the maroon shirt.

Wed, 20 Jul, 2022 - 06:30

Eoghan Cormican

We came across a humdinger of a stat the day before Galway travelled to Castlebar for their Connacht championship opener back in April, the sort of stat you make sure to safely stash away knowing full well you’ll be giving it a run out before the season is over.

And of the three exceptions - Paul Kelly, Cillian McDaid, and Dessie Conneely - the latter had only one championship appearance to his name, while Kelly wasn’t far ahead of him with three.

It has been repeatedly observed during Galway’s run to the final that only five of the starting 15 from the county’s 2018 All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Dublin are still on the panel, but what has been far less remarked upon is the deficit of experience created by those no longer around. Galway’s almost unrecognisable bench first day out back in April bore strong testament to that.

Indeed, when you add in Niall Daly, who made his championship debut from centre-forward against Mayo, nine of the 26 players who stepped off the Galway bus at MacHale Park had no championship minutes in maroon.

Fast forward to the Derry semi-final and there was a slight reduction in the greenness of Galway’s back-up cast, albeit not a massive amount - the number of players sitting in the stand without championship game-time in their locker was down from eight to three.

Contributing to this reduction was Johnny McGrath making his debut when sprung late on against Mayo, the same for Owen Gallagher next day out against Leitrim, while James Foley and Billy Mannion were introduced for the first time during extra-time against Armagh.

It is one thing, however, to be sent inside the whitewash, making an impression while in there is an altogether different matter.

Introduced in the 46th minute against Mayo, Cillian McDaid had Enda Hession burnt and the posts split within 90 seconds of his arrival. Six minutes later, he was to be found at the other end of the field blocking down a Cillian O’Connor point attempt.

McDaid’s MacHale Park cameo saw him climb into the starting team for the Connacht semi-final against Leitrim, with Patrick Kelly following him onto the first 15 for the provincial decider after firing 2-1 when introduced against Leitrim.

The pair’s promotion, while unquestionably strengthening Galway’s first-team hand, has robbed their bench of the two men most capable of making an impact.

The evidence is irrefutable. Just look at the complete lack of bench press across the Connacht final, All-Ireland quarter-final, and semi-final, with Finnian Ó Laoí’s point against Armagh the sole score by a Galway sub in their last three outings.

And it’s not as if all the men Pádraic Joyce has been calling down from the stand have been sent in to provide defensive reinforcement. Three of the five Connacht final subs were forwards (Ó Laoí, Gallagher, and Niall Daly), that number rising to four against Armagh before returning to three against Derry.

A paltry return of 0-1 across the Roscommon, Armagh, and Derry games places a significant amount of doubt over what contribution, if any, Galway replacements can make on Sunday.

"I think it is stronger than Galway's," former Kerry footballer Barry John Keane said this week of the Kingdom bench.

"There's definitely four or five of them that you're bringing on that are going to be as good as the fellas that are starting. You have very powerful substitute options in the forward line, the likes of Dara Moynihan, Micheál Burns, Jack Savage, all in the half-forward line. Then you have Tony Brosnan in the full-forward line.

"At midfield, Joe O'Connor is the captain. Paul Murphy has been around a while, Gavin Crowley has been around a while, so there's a lot of household names to call upon."

Keane neglected to mention Killian Spillane, another threat Kerry have waiting in the wings.

In the 2021 decider, Tyrone subs kicked 1-1. It’s a total that is far more likely to be achieved by green and gold reinforcements this weekend than by those in maroon.

Between normal time and extra-time in their All-Ireland quarter-final against Armagh and as Galway players tried to shut away the gnawing reality that they had let slip a winning hand, substitute goalkeeper James Keane delivered an inspirational few words to lift his teammates off the canvas.

But effective and all as Keane’s speech was, Galway subs must do their talking inside the whitewash this Sunday if the county’s 21-year wait is to be ended.