By Cian O’Connell

The end of James Skehill’s inter-county adventure eventually brought a little space for deliberation on the memories and medals.

Leaving the Galway set-up following a decade and a half on the inter-county beat from minor, Under 21, through to senior, Skehill can look back with the utmost satisfaction on his contribution to the maroon cause.

“This is the first time in a good while where I actually had a chance to go back through the past - what I played, what I achieved, what we have won as a group,” Skehill says. “You don't realise it, but when you are in the mix playing it you nearly half forget what you've played or what you've won.

Staying focused is simply the brief. “The most important game is the next one,” Skehill replies. “The most important Championship is the next one. So you are never counting your medals.

“If you are counting your medals you are already finished, you are done. Whenever you are in that bubble as a county player all you are focused on is the next game, the preparation for the next team, the analysis of that team.

“That just keeps rolling and rolling. It is only in the last week that I've had an opportunity to reflect back and take pride on what we achieved as a group and a county over the last 10 or 12, 13 years.”

Skehill’s own personal journey with Galway commenced in 2005 when All Ireland minor glory was sampled. On the same afternoon Galway lost the senior decider to Cork, but being part of a Croke Park occasion gave Skehill an insight into sport at an elite level.

“It does, the minor grade was always a milestone grade for any young player hoping to make a step up into the senior ranks,” Skehill states.

“It was always the grade that if you cut your cloth at minor, you were on the cusp of something good for senior. That 2005 day, I don't know why it sticks with me so much, I just think it was my first ever day of exposure to a large crowd, the first day in Croke Park.

“My memories of it are so vivid, I can still remember certain puckouts and certain balls coming to me. Even some of the calls and instances in the game, they are so vivid, it feels like only a year or two ago that I actually played the game.

“That is a vital grade, it really set me up. Once you got a taste of it then it became like a drug. That motivated for me for the following year and then for Under 21s and it had a snowball effect after.”

Hope was a constant companion for Galway hurling enthusiasts, but Skehill is adamant about the consistency that has been attained during the past decade. It matters deeply.

“I think myself - yes we won the All Ireland in 2017 - but from '12 upwards and to this day Galway can be considered a serious contender,” Skehill remarks.

“They always have the capability and ability to win the Championship. In those years and in the years going forward there is a like minded group, who understand what it takes to win a Championship and understands what it takes to be very competitive in a Championship.

“I think in years previous that wasn't there. Galway supporters, I can't put my finger on it, but there is an extremely high expectation. It is hard to understand why when you consider we don't have a fraction of the All Irelands the likes of the big three have.

“It could be down to our club game because that is so strong and the plethora of youth we have. Maybe that is what causes the high expectation in supporters, and the anxiousness that it creates.

“That day I think may have passed because we have the groups of people, definitely in the senior squad and the Under 20s coming through. We have people over the teams who can facilitate these players to compete.”

Colm Callanan and James Skehill’s desire was to wear the Galway goalkeeping jersey. Despite that rivalry there was a friendship and bond, a willingness to improve each other. “It is strange, you aren't the first person to ask me or to enquire about how that dynamic worked,” Skehill laughs.

“Colm and I came into the squad in the same year. Instantly we were really good friends outside of the training environment, so there never was any bad mindedness or maliciousness or any negative thinking towards one another.

“Yes there was competition, but it was very healthy competition. There was a mutual respect to know we were vying for the same jersey, but also we wanted to win All Irelands.

“One thing being on the team and it is nice to get the number one jersey, but if you don't win anything in my view it dampens the experience an awful lot. There is no use being in goals and not being competitive and winning. It was never said or mentioned.

“Not once did we say this is what we have to do, but it was a simple gesture, mannerisms between the two of us. Then it was commonly accepted we'd push each other as hard as we could, let the best man win.”

Christy O’Connor’s days as Galway goalkeeping coach added another layer of class. O’Connor had the guile to assist the two challengers. Conversations took place, hard work, and fun were part of the mix. The Doora-Barefield custodian knew precisely what it felt like to be an inter-county understudy.

“In all the years we played together the jersey went back and forth, back and forth, but it was business as usual whoever had the jersey,” Skehill comments.

“We both trained as hard as possible, Christy was a great man to have in the middle of all that. He had his own experiences behind Davy Fitz, trying to get a jersey and the difficulties that brings when you aren't getting game time etc.

“So if ever one of us was feeling a bit discontented at a time Christy was the perfect antidote to that.”

Undoubtedly challenging hurdles needed to be cleared. Sometimes it was a serious mental test to deal with not being in the team.

“Of course, it is different to being an outfield player when you could be on the replacements bench for matchday,” Skehill acknowledges.

“You have a pretty high chance of coming on. Nowadays you have 26 on a matchday squad, when you take out the sub goalkeeper that leaves you with 10 guys who are coming on.

“Nine times out of 10 they'd use five replacements so you have a 50 per cent chance of coming on as an outfield player. Whereas in all of my years supporting Colm I've never come on.

That itself is a challenge in itself. It is a bit of a double edged sword because you have to - A. be prepared physically and mentally because at any moment something could happen and B. at the back of your mind you have the devil on your shoulder telling you to relax, there is no game time, to sit back to watch it.

“So it is a fine split, but I was always of the opinion that every game I went into that if I was playing a supporting role I would be ready. I'd watch the game on an analysis basis and that if something happened to the goalkeeper and I had to go in I'd have a headstart on how the opposition was setting up and playing.

“That was hugely important. It was a challenge, it was taxing at times, but I understand the position, I understand the baggage that came with it. I choose to keep powering through. Colm and I would do the same thing for each other.”

Cappatagle’s remarkable rise has been one of the compelling club stories Corribside. Four Galway SHC semi-finals in a row have been reached by a constantly improving outfit.

“The mindset of our club has changed over the past couple of years. I'd be the first to admit that a lot of the players and even people in the community had, and I mean no disrespect, but they had an Intermediate mindset,” is Skehill’s honest appraisal.

“That is a lot of what the club had known in its history. We as players had to change that mindset and to change our oppositions mindset too. There was a lot - and I use the word disrespect- and it is a bit loose, but every club we played in our first couple of years at senior, they were expecting to beat us.

“Where we are at now is we are looking to win a Championship. End of story. When you finish your career as a club player nobody gives a shit what games you played in.

“They want to know how many medals you have. If I was to look back in 20 years time I'm not going to remember four semi-finals, I don't want to remember four semi-finals unless I have a medal in my pocket.”

Changing ways of thinking, generating momentum, and increasing belief isn’t easy to accomplish.

“What you have in our club traditionally is exposure,” Skehill responds. “A lot of players have exposure to inter-county environments. You take Damien Joyce, who came before me, then I was next and coming after me Ja Mannion, Deccie Cronin, we have a plethora of ex minors Dara Dolan etc.

“When you get exposure to inter-county environments, you see how other club players operate within that environment. The competitive nature it raises, that automatically feeds back into the club, especially when you have guys starting at inter-county.

“You know then that you can compete, that you are the best or at least in the top two in your position. Straightaway when those players come back into the club environment, at the moment we have myself, Joyce, James Egan, who won a county final for Loughmore in Tipperary, Deccie Cronin, Ja Mannion, Donal Mannion, all these guys I could name them off. We know we have quality there, we know for sure we have.”

Cappataggle want to remain prominent, the task currently being embraced. “Then there is a realisation we can't accept sub standard. Now sub standard for us where we are coming from is a loss. In Championship that is sub standard.

“You could draw a line across any team and say they could be in a county final at any stage. It takes a lot of commitment, sacrifice, pain, and repetition, to get back to a semi-final first of all. To get to a final is proving very difficult, but we have to keep going. That is it, keep going.”

Passionate as ever, Skehill doesn’t know any other way.