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Galway knocking on the door again

Galway have made steady progress under manager Kevin Walsh.

Galway have made steady progress under manager Kevin Walsh.

By Cian O'Connell

Sean O’Domhnaill won a couple of All Ireland medals alongside Kevin Walsh so is fully aware of the leadership and strength the Killanin clubman possesses.

What has struck O’Domhnaill, though, is the manner in which Walsh has stitched together a solid Galway team. Walsh has found a formula to make Galway competitive and consistent with a first All Ireland SFC Semi-Final appearance since 2001 imminent.

Before that Galway face Monaghan at Pearse Stadium on Saturday evening with O’Domhnaill adamant about the importance of that Salthill encounter.

“A good atmosphere is needed,” O’Domhnaill says about the good spirit within the Galway camp. “That is why the winning is huge. When you win you are in a type of festival atmosphere where everyone is getting on, working hard, fighting for that jersey and position.

“You can see Galway has that. When you look at Roscommon, who if they lose to Dublin will have lost four games in a row. That is why the game is so important against Monaghan. You'd hear talk about putting out a weaker team to give the fringe players a chance, I just can't see that happening. Winning is a habit, everybody does want to play, but it is a 24 or 25 man game now. Dublin's guys coming on are as good as what start. Some guys are good starters, others good finishers.”

O’Domhnaill feels that Galway have made significant progress with the depth of the panel a clear sign of how the Tribesmen have evolved. “That is what is so good about this Galway team, Kevin knows the guys he brings on the Adrian Varleys, Patrick Sweeneys, these guys can change a game,” O’Domhnaill adds.

“That is huge to have. You can look behind you when you have a problem to change it. That is very important. Even the 'keeper situation we are blessed we have two or three good 'keepers with different styles and kickouts. That position might have been seen as a weak point a few years ago, but that seems to have been corrected. It is probably one of our strongest points now.”

How Walsh has integrated Sean Andy O’Ceallaigh, Peter Cooke, Sean Kelly, Michael Daly, Ronan O’Beolain, Cein D’arcy, and Kieran Molloy from last year’s team which contested the All Ireland Under 21 final offers real hope for the future according to O’Domhnaill.

“Now especially with the players we have from the Under 21 team last year we have some strength in depth,” O’Domhnaill states. "Nobody wants to lose a final, but maybe it could be a blessing in disguise in the sense that they didn't win against Dublin. We have seen before that maybe the expectation is too much if they had won, maybe some are happy to win an All Ireland Under 21.

Former Galway player and selector Sean O'Domhnaill.

Former Galway player and selector Sean O'Domhnaill.

“Before some guys didn't kick on. It is a huge thing for Galway to have these guys. Then you have the likes of (Adrian) Varley and Sean Armstrong with experience and an older head still coming on to get points and show cuteness you need that balance. Looking back on all the successful teams in Galway they always had that balance of youth and experience, strength and speed, and a good sideline which we seem to have now.”

Galway have dealt with setbacks during the summer with the unavailability of Ciaran Duggan and Paul Conroy a blow, but the return to fitness of Fiontan O’Curraoin following a serious leg injury is a source of optimism. “I still think Paul Conroy is going to have a huge influence on this Galway team in the next two games minimum,” O’Domhnaill maintains. “He will be a huge inspiration to these lads, what he has gone through, he has been through the bad times.

“He has put his body on the line, he has suffered because of it. He will have a huge say motivational wise, knowing he is there for the lads, he will have a few words to say. Maybe he can't put on the boots to kick the ball for Galway, but his presence will have a huge say in how we do this year.

“We have lost Paul and (Ciaran) Duggan, but Tom Flynn has been outstanding, particularly in the last two or three games. Cooke is a good young guy and you have Fiontan coming in. He showed the last day in what was a dangerous time for Galway, we were holding on against Kildare, but Fiontan has come back from another break, it is great to see him togging again putting on the jersey.

“You always see the managers and trainers, but you have a team behind making sure these players are in prime, peak physical and mental condition. Dublin have it for the last five or six years, we were maybe playing catch up, but we are knocking on that door not far off them now.”

O’Domhnaill believes that Walsh’s work with the current Galway panel is worthy of praise as Galway have enjoyed a productive campaign. “If you go back to two years ago when Tipperary gave us a good hiding in Croke Park the scenario was that we wanted to be competitive, which is something we weren't,” O’Domhnaill remarks.

“I suppose we had seen great success at underage with Under 21 and minor teams, but we weren't seeing guys making that step up. It was hard for Kevin coming in at the start because it was going to be a rebuilding process, we all knew that.

“The turnaround really came last year came I feel when we got through Division Two. People must understand that Division Two football is never pretty because you are always playing teams slogging like yourself. It is all about the result, not the style. To come through there, beating Kildare in the Final was huge.

“Staying in Division One and I would have been one saying it too, it is a rebuilding process, that was the whole idea people felt with a view to kicking on next year. I suppose we probably had a jump start on the rest of the teams, who might have contested finals and semi-finals, we might have got an extra bit of training done for the League. We might have been a month or two ahead of Dublin, Kerry, and Mayo, but they do probably have good base fitness levels.”

Paddy Tally before Galway's All Ireland SFC Quarter-Final Group Phase win over Kildare.

Paddy Tally before Galway's All Ireland SFC Quarter-Final Group Phase win over Kildare.

The arrival of Paddy Tally in the Galway backroom set-up provided further benefit and O’Domhnaill is adamant that Galway’s counter-attacking style is continuing to develop. “By bringing in Paddy Tally Kevin was able to bring in someone with huge experience at a county level, big experience with Tyrone, Down, and St Mary's where he beat a very, very strong UCD team under our own fellow Galwayman, John Divilly,” O’Domhaill states.

“Bringing Tally in you have a new voice, someone with a very impressive CV, taking the pressure off Kevin, who can probably take a step back and show his influence in what he is really good at - managing, player one on ones, and you'd see the team going out now, they are just so well drilled. The way they are as players, the comradeship, it has snowballed in the sense that we have improved with every match.

“We are improving, we are getting more competent and are beginning to perfect the defence to attack system. We are putting up scores, but we are still very hard to break down. I wouldn't see ourselves on par with Dublin, but getting very close to Dublin in their system and the way that they play.”

Two Connacht titles have been raised, an Allianz Football League Division One Final contested, while Galway also scratched an itch by beating Kerry at GAA headquarters last month. “We would have been seen as underachievers for 10 years and more,” O’Domhnaill admits. “A team that is third on the roll of honour hadn't won in Croke Park since 2001.

“Then seeing your famous neighbours getting to All Irelands, getting all the credit, giving us hidings too. It is not good. Initially it wasn't pretty to watch and I would have been like a lot of ex players not liking it, but everybody was doing it. There is no point in trying to play nice football to get beaten by 10 or 12 points.

"Now we do have good forwards again nearly like the 1998 and 2001 time when you had six forwards that could score with strength and good fitness levels. We are blessed to have the likes of Damien Comer, Shane Walsh, Ian Burke, Eamonn Brannigan, Sean Kelly. That is the key. You can have the best defence, but unless you have forwards who can put the ball between the two posts you aren't going to win anything.

“We have that now and we aren't reliant on one scorer. We had several different scores against Kildare, the whole half back line, midfielders, and all the forwards scored. If Damien Comer is being held, Shane Walsh has been outstanding.

“If Shane Walsh is held, Ian Burke has stepped up. That is a huge strength to have in your armoury when an opposition manager is looking at the next game. We are very lucky having forwards and subs that can come on. That is something Galway have in abundance with good people on the sideline seeing what needs to be done tactically.”

In his own playing career O’Domhnaill flourished on the Croke Park stage in 1998 and now the proud An Cheathru man is enjoying watching his former centrefield partner lead Galway on the road to respectability again.