WHILE we haven’t quite reached the do-or-die portion of this year’s All-Ireland senior football championship, things are certainly starting to heat up for Pádraic Joyce and his Galway side as they close out the group stages of this year’s competition with Sunday’s trip to Carrick-on-Shannon to face Armagh (4pm).

Like the Galway hurlers last weekend, the footballers will still be in the championship no matter what happens on Sunday, but they do have an excellent chance to make things a whole pile easier for themselves if they are to make a run to the All-Ireland final.

The previous wins against Tyrone and Westmeath have put Joyce’s side in prime position to secure top spot in Group 2, but there is still some work to be done if they are to finish there and earn a direct passage to the last eight.

With Galway on four points after two games, a win or a draw against Armagh would be enough to guarantee a quarter-final place. You can be sure that Joyce will only have eyes for victory but, for the rest of us, it’s probably useful to know all of the permutations.

The strong finish Galway made in Mullingar the week before last means they could still finish top even if they lose on Sunday. If Armagh win and Tyrone beat Westmeath, then Galway, Tyrone and Armagh will all finish level on four points each and will be separated on score difference. Galway (+11) currently enjoy a decent advantage over their Ulster counterparts in that regard (both Armagh and Tyrone are on -1) but it wouldn’t take too much for things to start to look a little dicey, especially if Tyrone come out strong against what could be a tired Westmeath side.

If Westmeath were to beat Tyrone and Galway were to lose to Armagh, the Tribesmen would finish in second place in the group due to their head-to-head record with Kieran McGeeney’s side but, as mentioned, a win in Páirc Seán Mac Diarmada makes all of this irrelevant from a Galway point of view.

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

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