By Kevin Egan

IT’S been pegged all year as the league that everybody wants to be in, but that nobody wants to win; or at least, nobody wants to play in the final, given the game’s proximity to the start of the championship.

However Galway manager Pádraic Joyce was quick to dispel any idea that the Tribesmen fall into that category, as he spoke after his side’s 1-8 to 1-6 win over Armagh about how it was a national title that he never got to add to his own glittering sporting CV.

“People say this is a league that nobody wants to win, but Galway haven’t won a league title since my own uncle was playing back in 1981. I lost three finals myself, and a lot of lads in the panel know what it’s like to lose a final too” he said in the Athletic Grounds.

Billy Joyce was part of a talented Galway midfield alongside Brian Talty when Galway overcame Roscommon by 1-11 to 1-3 in Croke Park in that 1981 final, and his nephew is adamant that competing strongly for silverware was absolutely part of their plans for this year’s campaign.

“The best teams, the ones that win All-Irelands, they usually pick up league medals along the way, every so often. It’s a national title, now we know we’re still not in there, we’ve a bit to go, but our aim at the start of the year was to get to a league final and win it, and that goal hasn’t changed. We’ve to get one more result next week against Kerry to make sure that we’re in that final, and we’ll be going all out to get that result in Pearse Stadium” he said.

The permutations are relatively simple. Win or draw, and Galway will join Mayo in Croke Park on Sunday, April 2. Lose by three or more, and they’re definitely out of the hunt. Lose by one or two, and it becomes a question of whether either Roscommon or Tyrone overtake the Connacht champions in the scoring difference charts.

Galway are currently on +10 and both of those counties sit on +1, so it would require a significant swing in fortunes, but Roscommon, who are at home to an already relegated and demoralised Donegal side, might just be capable of capitalising on any failure by Galway to look after their side of the deal.

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

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