Inside Track with John McIntyre

A contrasting tale for two Galway senior team managers over the weekend. Both Padraic Joyce and Micheál Donoghue were supervising the first games of the new National League campaigns within less than 24-hours of each other at Pearse Stadium, but one sideline supremo must have departed Salthill with more than a touch of migraine.

The footballers were first up on Saturday when the venue’s new floodlights were officially turned on. The weather was hostile, but around 11,000 spectators braved the conditions to see a repeat of last year’s All-Ireland Final against Armagh, with the occasion given further lustre by the comprehensive new rules being trialled.

Though large parts of this Division One tie didn’t look a lot different to what Gaelic football fans have become used to over recent years – extended periods of possession, lateral movement and crowded defensive zones – you could still the potential of what Jim Gavin’s group is trying to achieve.

Look at Roscommon’s rollercoaster against Down at Hyde Park the following afternoon. It was thrill-a-minute stuff and the final score (3-21 to 1-20 to the hosts) were have done justice to a loose-marking hurling match. Galway, in contrast, tend to be a little more conservative and took a while to throw off some shackles in Salthill.

In fact, the large home support must have been alarmed by what they saw in the opening half. At one juncture, Galway were 0-5 to 0-1 down, with All-Ireland hero Oisín Conaty picking up where he left off that day in Croke Park. Armagh were moving the ball quicker and their hosts didn’t have a second point until the 28th minute when Cillian Ó Curraoin was on target from a free.

It was looking like the Tribesmen weren’t going to beat Armagh for the fourth game running despite the industry of the returning Finian Ó Laoi on the forty and the excellence of Daniel O’Flaherty in a new corner back role. But the game was to swing when the hosts were awarded a penalty in the 33rd minute.

Up stepped Matthew Tierney to make no mistake and from there onwards there was little doubt about who was going to win the game. Three second half two-pointers from Ó Curraoin, Shane Walsh and Paul Conroy drove Galway’s advantage home, and it must have been a heartening outcome for Joyce and his management given their difficulties early on.

Pictured: Galway’s Sean Kelly eyes up huis options against Armagh’s Rory Grugan and Greg McCabe during Saturday’s National Football League tie at Pearse Stadium on Saturday.  Photo: Joe O’Shaughnessy.