By Pádraic Ó Ciardha

ANY Galway supporters who decided to park up the Armagh side of town and stroll to Páirc Esler last Sunday afternoon would have come across an ominous portent as they crossed the Clanrye River on their way to the ground.

There, in the middle of the Dublin Bridge, stands a memorial to the SS Connemara, a steamship which sank on her way to Newry in 1916 after a collision with the SS Retriever resulting in the loss of 97 lives. It’s not exactly what someone making the trip from Clifden, An Cheathrú Rua or any other part of Galway would have wanted to read.

Thankfully, Pádraic Joyce’s side avoided disaster on the banks of Carlingford Lough at the weekend, holding off Down in a third successive thriller in Ulster to book their place in the All-Ireland quarter-finals.

It was the draw most of those of a maroon persuasion wanted in this preliminary round but no sooner were Down pulled out of the hat than the talk of a potential banana skin-fixture grew and grew. Conor Laverty’s free-scoring side would have nothing to lose in front of a packed home crowd and so it proved as they pushed Galway all the way in a titanic battle.

The Tribesmen’s victory was built on some familiar strengths. In the middle of the field, Céin D’Arcy, John Maher and substitute Peter Cooke were superb in securing primary possession for Galway and came up with a few vital catches particularly when goalkeeper Conor Flaherty was rattled midway through the second half.

Joyce will be buoyed by the contribution he got off the bench. Cooke, as noted, was excellent after replacing Paul Conroy, while Daniel O’Flaherty continued the good work of Cian Hernon, adding two excellent and very welcome scores while the game was still in the melting pot.

It was a big day for the Salthill-Knocknacarra contingent with Tomo Culhane also coming off the bench to grab the game-clinching goal while Rob Finnerty showed once again why he has been one of the top forwards in the country over the last couple of years.

As good as each of Maher, O’Flaherty, Culhane and Finnerty were, however, they were outshone by their young clubmate who gave a coming-of-age performance. Matthew Thompson only made his Galway debut at the end of February and while injuries to others played their role in fast-tracking him into the first team, Thompson has grabbed his chance to become a vital part of Pádraic Joyce’s side.

Three points against New York in the Connacht opener were followed up by solid if unspectacular performances against Roscommon and Mayo but Thompson has improved game after game since, culminating in Sunday’s Man of the Match display in Newry.

Pictured: Galway attacker Matthew Thompson takes on Ryan Magill of Down during Sunday’s All-Ireland Senior Football Preliminary quarter-final at Páirc Esler. Photo: Ben McShane/Sportsfile