Inside Track with John McIntyre

WHERE do Padraic Joyce and the Galway footballers go from here? It’s been a long road for the group over the past six years, with near misses continuing to stalk them. Losing the All-Ireland Finals of 2022 and last year were devastating blows, but it’s arguable that the events at Croke Park last Sunday-week will leave deeper scars.

So far, there has been no indication from the team management about its future – their term extends for one more year – but you can only imagine that Joyce, John Divilly, John Concannon, Micheal Ó Domhnaill, David Morris and Mickey Graham will be doing some serious talking before signing up for another season.

Can they finally take Galway to somewhere they haven’t been able to since Joyce was appointed team manager in the winter of 2019? Have they got the energy and stomach to go back to the trenches and almost start all over again. The time and effort involved in inter-county management these days is frightening, and nobody can accuse these Galway mentors of not being 100% committed.

In retrospect, the warning signs were there for Galway this summer. Apart from the Connacht semi-final against Roscommon, every game was extremely hard work and went down to the wire. They could have lost to Mayo, Armagh, Derry and Down, but each time managed to eke out narrow wins which at least underlined the squad’s character.

But if Galway were genuine All-Ireland contenders, should the likes of Mayo, Derry and Down be causing them so much trouble? The results were camouflaging the reality that the Tribesmen were not especially thriving under the new rules. Other contenders were moving the ball more incisively and, of course, losing to Dublin in Salthill meant they were having to go the long way round in attempting to reach another All-Ireland Final.

It’s probable that having to line out for the third weekend in succession took the edge off Galway against Meath, but they failed to exploit all their possession in the opening half. They were too methodical, too lateral, and didn’t really ask questions of an inexperienced opposition playing in their first All-Ireland quarter-final in years.

Galway may have been battle-hardened, but they were too cautious, even if a late flurry of points left them narrowly ahead at the break. It had largely been turgid football, but you still would have fancied the men in maroon to come out on top. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way and the defence couldn’t get a handle on Jordan Morris as the Royals opened a significant lead.

Pictured: Tuam Stars’ Brian Mannion comes under pressure from Bernard Coen of Corofin during the Division 1 League Final at Tuam Stadium on Friday. Photo: David Cunniffe.