Kelly praying for Galway ‘off-day’ to boost Sligo’s hopes of shock

Sligo sharpshooter David Kelly, who persecuted Galway in his county’s Connacht championship victories over the Tribesmen in 2010 and 2012, believes Kevin Walsh’s charge are a totally proposition these days and would need to have “an off day” for Sligo to beat them this Sunday.

Although not involved this year, Kelly, like everybody else, has seen the transformation Galway have undergone under his former manager at Sligo, Kevin Walsh, and he notes the Tribesmen are now “a frightening animal when they get going”.

“The one thing that jumps out at me this year is the structure,” notes Kelly, who has been living in Oranmore for the last three years. “They are way more organised and it is not easy to play against them. It is not easy to score against them.

“They have always had dangerous players. They have always had those mavericks who could blow you away but, maybe, they just hadn’t had that discipline or structure in their game. That is what Kevin has probably brought in. I don't think any team will like to play them.”

Kelly is wholly familiar with Walsh, having soldiered under him at Sligo between 2009 and 2013, and the Tubbercurry man says what Walsh brought to their set-up was a great level of organisation.

“He (Walsh) was a manager and he took on that role and he delegated the other roles to other coaches. He was a very good man manager. Obviously, knowing who he is (an All-Ireland winner with Galway), he came in with that reputation straight away but he was really good.

“He doesn't say stuff for the sake of saying stuff and he is not overly vocal but he gets across what he needs to get across. When he was with us, they were probably some of our best times with Sligo. We had a good run of years. We all saw him going back to Galway and that was always going to be the case. In fairness, he is doing very good work with Galway. You can see that.”

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.