SHANE WALSH, DAMIEN Comer, Matthew Tierney, John Maher, Rob Finnerty.
The Galway infirmary was worryingly stacked throughout the season. All Stars and big matchday performers all missing at the same time. The toll went up to 21 at one stage.
It was an issue that impacted their league and even followed them into the Connacht championship. They travelled to London without a full deck to select from, while Shane Walsh and Damien Comer only made long-awaited returns in their semi-final win over Sligo where an injury-time goal from Finnerty rescued them from a shock defeat.
“We’ve never had the same 15 on the pitch,” Comer said on The Sunday Game, summing up the extent of the problem as he accepted his man of the match award in the Connacht final. “I remember back in November, eight, nine 10 lads out on the pitch.”
But today, against Mayo, with a provincial three-in-a-row on the line, it was those who had spent time on the treatment table that made the vital contributions to leave them on the winning side of a one-point difference.
Both sides leaned into a full-press strategy and earned a lot of profits from it. Six of Mayo’s first-half points came from turnovers. But it was Galway who got the maximum return from the tactic in the concluding moments.
John Maher, a first-half substitute, won a free in the 72nd minute when Galway were trailing by two points which Finnerty converted from close range. Shane Walsh kicked two points off either foot from play, along with an injury-time free to level the tie.
Matthew Tierney quickly emerged as a target for kickouts on the wing after he came on to replace Johnny Heaney after 52 minutes. And it was Tierney and Maher’s combined turnover which led to the match-winning score after they converged on Conor Loftus to force a free for overcarrying.
Those were the finishing touches that resulted in Connor Gleeson’s decisive kick from 50 metres out just days after the death of his grandmother. Captain Seán Kelly poignantly paid tribute to the Galway netminder in his acceptance speech.
But it was Comer who laid down the brickwork in thiswin. His two-point tally only brushes the surface of his entire input.
"We put pressure on ourselves to get the three in a row. There was a lot of talk about draws and where you would be but we wanted to win today against our arch rival" - Galway's man of the match Damien Comer#GAA #TheSundayGame pic.twitter.com/MKI71POZeM
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) May 5, 2024
David McBrien picked him up in the first half and Eoghan McLaughlin, such was the bother he was posing for them in Pearse Stadium. Comer’s first act in the game was to take on McBrien and get close enough to Colm Reape’s goal to take a shot at the net. His effort spun out over the endline but he was being fouled by the Ballaghaderreen man and referee David Gough rewarded him with a free.
Comer gave McLaughlin a similar greeting at the start of the second half, after winning the race for possession to grab a score which cut the gap to one point. He won two important frees in the first half which were converted by Finnerty, and another in the 54th minute when Galway were three behind and in danger of drifting out of the contest.
He combined again with Finnerty in the 42nd minute, providing an assist from play. Comer also fetched a kickout from Gleeson which should have ended with a point for Paul Conroy, but he missed from his attempt at the posts.
There were traces of Comer’s endeavor all over Galway’s game making him the obvious choice for the man of the match award. The Connacht champions have work-ons to address from today, including some worrying moments at kickout time. They conceded three of them to Mayo in the first half, that they were fortunate not to pay a heavy price for. They looked too pedestrian at other times when Gleeson was looking for options.
Armagh/Donegal, Derry and Westmeath will look to exploit those flaws in the All-Ireland group stage, although Joyce was unhappy with the GAA’s decision to hold the draw for that competition before the provincial finals took place.
“That’s one thing the GAA messed up on,” he told The Sunday Game after the Mayo win. “I don’t really know why the draw was on, the whole country can’t understand it why the draw was on last week. It’s time enough the draw being on Sunday week.”
It’s the positives though, that are the more obvious takeaways for Galway from today. A win over the old enemy to complete a provincial three-in-a-row is the most satisfying one. And an emptier sight in their casualty wing is certainly the most relieving of all.
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