JOE KERNAN STOOD on the sideline in Gaelic Park, fearing a humiliation was near.
It was the summer of 2010 and the former Armagh boss was now managing the Galway footballers. They were in New York for what was supposed to be the start of their Connacht championship, but it almost became their last day too. They rolled into the Big Apple as heavy favourites, expecting a win to ease them into the campaign. New York were chasing their first-ever win in the Connacht competition. And they came close.
Galway started brightly with a Pádraic Joyce goal after three minutes. But playing in their familiar surroundings in the Bronx, New York stayed in touch to trail by just 1-5 to 0-7 at half-time. A spurned goal chance shortly after the restart would have put them in the lead and sent Galway pulses racing.
Kernan was filled with dread as he watched on.
“Without a doubt,” he remembers of the fear he felt during that game. “It was one of those days where you thought, ‘Oh my God, it’s going to happen.’”
This was Galway’s second trip to New York in just eight months. The previous October, they flew out for the final of the FBD League, which they won comfortably by 1-18 to 0-4.
Pádraic Joyce on the ball for Galway against New York in 2010. Peter Marney / INPHO
Peter Marney / INPHO / INPHO
But when the sides met again the following May, a different story unfolded. The weather conditions were certainly different as the teams collided on a hot and humid day for the Second Act. Of course, that would be the case for every Connacht county when it’s their turn to face New York on their turf. The five-hour time difference poses problems for the visiting side too.
Galway, though, had other hurdles to mount. For those who can recall, a volcanic ash cloud formed around that time following an eruption in Iceland. It caused massive interference in the Irish airspace, resulting in flights being grounded. Another issue for Kernan and his squad was an event happening the night before the game which they were obliged to attend.
“There was a fundraiser on a ship driving around the Statue of Liberty, raising money for Galway.
Advertisement
Joe Kernan pictured in 2010. Mike Shaughnessy / INPHO
Mike Shaughnessy / INPHO / INPHO
“As a manager, it’s not the sort of thing you want. You want your players settled down instead of being put on a ship talking about raising funds to help win an All-Ireland when you’re starting a championship run over in New York against a team that would be chawing at the bit to get at you. It’s a cauldron out in Gaelic Park with the heat coming off the surface. You’re playing on a 4G pitch, it’s not very big, so it’s very competitive.
“There’s a lot of things that wouldn’t be good preparation for the management or players. But it’s a fact of life: you have to get through it. We scraped through and we were lucky to do it. It’s not as easy an experience, or a wonderful weekend as some people make it out to be.”
****
Kerry-born forward Dan Doona was one of the stars of that New York team who spooked Galway. He scored five points from play, including one from a sideline kick.
Before moving to the States in 2005, he was a player on the rise at home, wining Munster minor titles with Kerry in 2002 and 2003. Declan O’Sullivan and Donnacha Walsh were among his teammates, as was Bryan Sheehan who was their goalkeeper in 2002. Doona was captain of the 2003 team but was suspended for the Munster final against Cork after receiving a red card against Clare in the semi-final.
Doona later progressed to the senior squad in 2004 during Jack O’Connor’s first term with the Kingdom. He broke his jaw during a training camp, and while he was sidelined with the injury, he began plotting a move to Boston in 2005.
“After I broke my jaw,” Doona begins with his Kerry accent still booming despite the years away from home, “I was out of training for a while and they had a lot of heavy training done. I didn’t really get a look in then.”
O’Connor was fond of Doona, describing him once as “the one that got away”. Before the Beaufort man jetted off, he told him that he would be starting their Munster quarter-final against Tipperary.
Dan Doona during the 2003 All-Ireland minor semi-final against Laois. INPHO
INPHO
“I had the ticket booked,” was Doona’s response. He has no regrets about his choice either.
He left for Boston thinking he could kick some ball with the Cork club out there, and that this would be just his summer residency. But he was working as a plasterer with no college commitments calling him home. So, he decided to wait until Christmas before making any plans.
“I ended up in New York to give it another summer playing with the Kerry club. I was going to go home but I just kept putting it off.
“I went down to meet some of the Kerry team who were out on their holiday after the All-Ireland final. I was meeting up with Darran O’Sullivan and a few other lads from the Kerry club in New York. We got talking and I ended up moving down.”
Doona missed the FBD League final against Galway due to injury, but he remembers the confidence they felt in the squad before the second meeting. Their manager Séamus Sweeney from Donegal commuted from Philadelphia every week to mentor the side.
“We felt we had a chance, we knew we had good players. Séamus Sweeney and Mickey McNeill did a great job with us. They came up from Philadelphia four nights a week which was probably two hours each way. They were mad about us and did a really good job of managing the team. Séamus was training a club team up here as well.”
****
When Kernan looks back on Galway’s great escape, he thinks of the “touch of class” that Pádraic Joyce and Matthew Clancy produced to rescue them from a shock defeat. Joyce finished the game with 1-7 while a late Cormac Bane goal ultimately sealed a 2-13 to 0-12 win.
Joyce will be the one patrolling the sideline for Galway this weekend when they face New York again. Now into his sixth season as manager, Kernan recalls seeing that path before him when he was still a player.
“You saw management material in Pádraic when he was playing. He was a cool head. He was a leader and saw things other players didn’t see. Even though he was coming to the end of his reign as a player, he hit a pass that day that nobody else could have hit. It was like through the eye of a needle.
“His done very well with the county – three Connachts, two All-Ireland finals and could have won the two of them. I’m glad he stayed on because he still has a team that can win an All-Ireland.”
Supporters in Gaelic Park in 2010. Peter Marney / INPHO
Peter Marney / INPHO / INPHO
Joyce’s performance aside, another crucial factor in that game was the dismissal of two New York players. One of them was Pat Madden who was also part of that 2002 Kerry minor team with Doona. He was sent off in the 48th minute for persistent fouling. Johnny Murtagh was sent to the line just under 10 minutes later, after scoring four points.
Doona feels New York were “right there” and that a full deck could have snagged the result. Kernan doesn’t deny that New York were breathing down their throat but can’t be certain about what would have happened in a 15 v 15 contest.
“You actually don’t know. Sometimes your players do stand up and believe and sometimes it can make it more awkward. One man [sent off] is ok but two men puts a lot of pressure on. And that’s where complacency can creep in again and you think, ‘Oh we have them now.’ Once you’re on a slippery slope in a match, it’s very hard to take control again.
“If they see that you’re vulnerable on the day, they give it their all. New York are passionate as well. There’s a lot of good footballers out there. They might not be playing at the level we play at here but they’ve been round the block too. They introduce a few players who have grown up out there.
“I remember going into their dressing room after and congratulating them, saying, ‘Yeez are going to do it [beat a Connacht team] and I’m glad ye didn’t do it today.’”
Related Reads
Roscommon move through the gears against London to win Connacht SFC opener
How is every county shaping up as All-Ireland football championship starts?
Here's the fixtures and TV-streaming coverage for the 2025 GAA football championship
Relieved to be coming home with the win, Galway’s return journey was interrupted by the ash cloud. Instead of arriving back into Shannon Airport, they were diverted to an airport in England before completing the trip by ferry.
“The match was one thing but getting home was another thing,” Kernan adds.
“Everything was fine when we were going out but it was just when we got there, all hell broke loose.”
Doona never did manage to move back to Kerry, although he wouldn’t be opposed to it. His wife, however, is happier in New York, and more specifically, Rockland where their life is now. He goes home for a visit twice a year, and gets back for the Fleadh too to watch his son play music on the drums.
There was an offer to play for Wicklow at one stage too. Kerry great Mick O’Dwyer, who passed away sadly this week, was the Wicklow manager when the team travelled to New York after winning the Tommy Murphy Cup in 2007. They played The Exiles during the trip, where Doona caught O’Dwyer’s eye.
But he declined the invitation.
“I was settled here and I wouldn’t play with any other team than Kerry,” he explains.
Doona still goes to watch New York’s annual appearance in the Connacht SFC, although he was unfortunate to miss their famous win over Leitrim in 2023. Kernan knew they would make the breakthrough in Connacht at some stage, and Doona saw it unfold from a screen in Kerry as the tie concluded with a dramatic penalty shootout.
Galway roll back in to the Big Apple again this weekend carrying the familiar favourites tag. The likelihood of New York clipping the Connacht three-in-a-row champions and All-Ireland finalists may be low. But just as they discovered in 2010, it’s never zero.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
'We scraped through': The day New York almost dumped Galway out of the Connacht SFC
JOE KERNAN STOOD on the sideline in Gaelic Park, fearing a humiliation was near.
It was the summer of 2010 and the former Armagh boss was now managing the Galway footballers. They were in New York for what was supposed to be the start of their Connacht championship, but it almost became their last day too. They rolled into the Big Apple as heavy favourites, expecting a win to ease them into the campaign. New York were chasing their first-ever win in the Connacht competition. And they came close.
Galway started brightly with a Pádraic Joyce goal after three minutes. But playing in their familiar surroundings in the Bronx, New York stayed in touch to trail by just 1-5 to 0-7 at half-time. A spurned goal chance shortly after the restart would have put them in the lead and sent Galway pulses racing.
Kernan was filled with dread as he watched on.
“Without a doubt,” he remembers of the fear he felt during that game. “It was one of those days where you thought, ‘Oh my God, it’s going to happen.’”
This was Galway’s second trip to New York in just eight months. The previous October, they flew out for the final of the FBD League, which they won comfortably by 1-18 to 0-4.
But when the sides met again the following May, a different story unfolded. The weather conditions were certainly different as the teams collided on a hot and humid day for the Second Act. Of course, that would be the case for every Connacht county when it’s their turn to face New York on their turf. The five-hour time difference poses problems for the visiting side too.
Galway, though, had other hurdles to mount. For those who can recall, a volcanic ash cloud formed around that time following an eruption in Iceland. It caused massive interference in the Irish airspace, resulting in flights being grounded. Another issue for Kernan and his squad was an event happening the night before the game which they were obliged to attend.
“There was a fundraiser on a ship driving around the Statue of Liberty, raising money for Galway.
“As a manager, it’s not the sort of thing you want. You want your players settled down instead of being put on a ship talking about raising funds to help win an All-Ireland when you’re starting a championship run over in New York against a team that would be chawing at the bit to get at you. It’s a cauldron out in Gaelic Park with the heat coming off the surface. You’re playing on a 4G pitch, it’s not very big, so it’s very competitive.
“There’s a lot of things that wouldn’t be good preparation for the management or players. But it’s a fact of life: you have to get through it. We scraped through and we were lucky to do it. It’s not as easy an experience, or a wonderful weekend as some people make it out to be.”
****
Kerry-born forward Dan Doona was one of the stars of that New York team who spooked Galway. He scored five points from play, including one from a sideline kick.
Before moving to the States in 2005, he was a player on the rise at home, wining Munster minor titles with Kerry in 2002 and 2003. Declan O’Sullivan and Donnacha Walsh were among his teammates, as was Bryan Sheehan who was their goalkeeper in 2002. Doona was captain of the 2003 team but was suspended for the Munster final against Cork after receiving a red card against Clare in the semi-final.
Doona later progressed to the senior squad in 2004 during Jack O’Connor’s first term with the Kingdom. He broke his jaw during a training camp, and while he was sidelined with the injury, he began plotting a move to Boston in 2005.
“After I broke my jaw,” Doona begins with his Kerry accent still booming despite the years away from home, “I was out of training for a while and they had a lot of heavy training done. I didn’t really get a look in then.”
O’Connor was fond of Doona, describing him once as “the one that got away”. Before the Beaufort man jetted off, he told him that he would be starting their Munster quarter-final against Tipperary.
“I had the ticket booked,” was Doona’s response. He has no regrets about his choice either.
He left for Boston thinking he could kick some ball with the Cork club out there, and that this would be just his summer residency. But he was working as a plasterer with no college commitments calling him home. So, he decided to wait until Christmas before making any plans.
“I ended up in New York to give it another summer playing with the Kerry club. I was going to go home but I just kept putting it off.
“I went down to meet some of the Kerry team who were out on their holiday after the All-Ireland final. I was meeting up with Darran O’Sullivan and a few other lads from the Kerry club in New York. We got talking and I ended up moving down.”
Doona missed the FBD League final against Galway due to injury, but he remembers the confidence they felt in the squad before the second meeting. Their manager Séamus Sweeney from Donegal commuted from Philadelphia every week to mentor the side.
“We felt we had a chance, we knew we had good players. Séamus Sweeney and Mickey McNeill did a great job with us. They came up from Philadelphia four nights a week which was probably two hours each way. They were mad about us and did a really good job of managing the team. Séamus was training a club team up here as well.”
****
When Kernan looks back on Galway’s great escape, he thinks of the “touch of class” that Pádraic Joyce and Matthew Clancy produced to rescue them from a shock defeat. Joyce finished the game with 1-7 while a late Cormac Bane goal ultimately sealed a 2-13 to 0-12 win.
Joyce will be the one patrolling the sideline for Galway this weekend when they face New York again. Now into his sixth season as manager, Kernan recalls seeing that path before him when he was still a player.
“You saw management material in Pádraic when he was playing. He was a cool head. He was a leader and saw things other players didn’t see. Even though he was coming to the end of his reign as a player, he hit a pass that day that nobody else could have hit. It was like through the eye of a needle.
“His done very well with the county – three Connachts, two All-Ireland finals and could have won the two of them. I’m glad he stayed on because he still has a team that can win an All-Ireland.”
Joyce’s performance aside, another crucial factor in that game was the dismissal of two New York players. One of them was Pat Madden who was also part of that 2002 Kerry minor team with Doona. He was sent off in the 48th minute for persistent fouling. Johnny Murtagh was sent to the line just under 10 minutes later, after scoring four points.
Doona feels New York were “right there” and that a full deck could have snagged the result. Kernan doesn’t deny that New York were breathing down their throat but can’t be certain about what would have happened in a 15 v 15 contest.
“You actually don’t know. Sometimes your players do stand up and believe and sometimes it can make it more awkward. One man [sent off] is ok but two men puts a lot of pressure on. And that’s where complacency can creep in again and you think, ‘Oh we have them now.’ Once you’re on a slippery slope in a match, it’s very hard to take control again.
“If they see that you’re vulnerable on the day, they give it their all. New York are passionate as well. There’s a lot of good footballers out there. They might not be playing at the level we play at here but they’ve been round the block too. They introduce a few players who have grown up out there.
“I remember going into their dressing room after and congratulating them, saying, ‘Yeez are going to do it [beat a Connacht team] and I’m glad ye didn’t do it today.’”
Relieved to be coming home with the win, Galway’s return journey was interrupted by the ash cloud. Instead of arriving back into Shannon Airport, they were diverted to an airport in England before completing the trip by ferry.
“The match was one thing but getting home was another thing,” Kernan adds.
“Everything was fine when we were going out but it was just when we got there, all hell broke loose.”
Doona never did manage to move back to Kerry, although he wouldn’t be opposed to it. His wife, however, is happier in New York, and more specifically, Rockland where their life is now. He goes home for a visit twice a year, and gets back for the Fleadh too to watch his son play music on the drums.
There was an offer to play for Wicklow at one stage too. Kerry great Mick O’Dwyer, who passed away sadly this week, was the Wicklow manager when the team travelled to New York after winning the Tommy Murphy Cup in 2007. They played The Exiles during the trip, where Doona caught O’Dwyer’s eye.
But he declined the invitation.
“I was settled here and I wouldn’t play with any other team than Kerry,” he explains.
Doona still goes to watch New York’s annual appearance in the Connacht SFC, although he was unfortunate to miss their famous win over Leitrim in 2023. Kernan knew they would make the breakthrough in Connacht at some stage, and Doona saw it unfold from a screen in Kerry as the tie concluded with a dramatic penalty shootout.
Galway roll back in to the Big Apple again this weekend carrying the familiar favourites tag. The likelihood of New York clipping the Connacht three-in-a-row champions and All-Ireland finalists may be low. But just as they discovered in 2010, it’s never zero.
Another showdown in Gaelic Park awaits.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Connacht SFC Dan Doona Galway GAA Joe Kernan Looking Back New York GAA