By Pádraic Ó Ciardha

WHEN you get drawn in a group that’s instantly given the ‘Group of Death’ moniker, you should probably take it as a given that there’ll be no easing your way into things and that’s certainly the case for the Galway footballers as they welcome Dublin to Pearse Stadium on Saturday evening (5.00pm).

Pádraic Joyce’s side are riding high after the two-point win over Mayo a couple of weeks ago secured a fourth Connacht title on the trot but things only get harder as they get ready to face the Dubs, Derry and Armagh in Group 4 of the next stage of the All-Ireland championship.

They say a wounded animal is as dangerous as a cornered one and if that’s the case this Dublin side has the look of a gammy lion in a cul-de-sac.

Meath produced one of the biggest shocks of recent years when they brought Dublin’s 15-year unbeaten run in Leinster to an end with a stunning 0-23 to 1-16 victory in Navan three weeks ago. The challenges Dessie Farrell and his players faced this year were well-flagged with Brian Fenton, James McCarthy, Jack McCaffrey, Michael Fitzsimons and Paul Mannion all calling it a day after Galway beat them in last year’s All-Ireland quarter-final but the failure to even keep their death grip on the Delaney Cup was something that few saw coming.

As a result, the Dubs come into Saturday’s game as a bit of an unknown quantity. The loss to Meath, who are still a Division 2 team, raises serious questions but you couldn’t be sure that Farrell and Co don’t have the answers.

Go through the team that lost in Páirc Tailteann last time out and you still have Stephen Cluxton, Brian Howard, John Small, Ciarán Kilkenny, Niall Scully, Con O’Callaghan, Cormac Costello, Colm Basquel, Paddy Small. That group alone have 57 All-Ireland medals between them and while they might be getting a little longer in the tooth, you can be sure those fangs are still sharp enough to puncture skin.

Add to that the fact that Seán Bugler, Dublin’s standout player in this year’s league, missed the loss to Meath through injury, as did the likes of Eoin Murchan, Seán MacMahon and Lee Gannon, and you can see that that there’s plenty of bite still left in them yet.

Throw in Dublin’s record in Galway in recent years – unbeaten in five trips west since 2011 – plus their six-point win over the Tribesmen in Croke Park a couple of months ago and it’s easy to make a case for the visitors but Galway have plenty of reason for optimism themselves.

Pictured: Galway’s Cillian McDaid shrugging off the attentions of Dublin’s James McCarthy during last year’s All-Ireland senior football quarter-final at Croke Park. Photo: Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile.