Galway 0-16; Mayo 0-15
Despite talk of losing to gain an easier group in the All-Ireland series, Sunday’s Connacht Final showdown between these oldest of adversaries showed that provincial titles still matter to both these teams.
Both sides swapped the lead down the home straight more than once before Mayo bolted for home at Pearse Stadium and got themselves two points in front close to the 70th minute mark.
For the second time in the half, the question was asked of Galway: ‘Have you got the bottle for a fight back?’ The first saw them wipe out a deficit and go a point ahead. This time they dug into their resources to level matters before goalkeepers Conor Gleeson stepped forward to shoot the winning score from a placed ball outside the 45m line.
Visiting fans left the ground shaking their heads at the fact that referee David Gough (Meath) had awarded the Tribesmen three softish frees in the final denouement, but really the team and management team has only themselves to blame for allowing such a situation to arise.
Bad substitutions by Kevin McStay, particularly in taking off Aidan O’Shea, ceded the middle possession to the home side and by running directly at the Mayo defense, they drew frees that left the official little option but to whistle.
These last three scores were condensed into the extra five minutes of overtime which made it look as if the knight of the whistle was favoring one side, but truth is it was the change of tactics from both managers - to change personnel on the Mayo side and to run direct at their opponents from the other that led to the scores which saw Galway land their 50th Connacht title.
Despite losing skipper Paddy Durcan before the throw-in to injury and despite playing against the wind in the first half, Mayo led by two points at the break 0-7 to 0-5 and a betting person’s money would have been on them kicking on with the elements at their disposal.
Not for the first time over the years, they looked the gift horse in the mouth and huffed and puffed instead of clinically dissecting Galway when the chances occurred.
Galway manager Padráic Joyce had made switches from his published team by keeping Shane Walsh and John Maher in reserve, replacing them with Cathal Sweeney and Kieran Molloy in the half-forward line.
Having had the lion’s share of possession in the first half, it was a bit of a surprise when it was Galway who stepped to the plate against the wind. They had most of the ball and once Damien Comer and Johnny Heaney levelled soon after the restart, they looked up for the fight for the first time. When Finnerty put them ahead from a free after Comer was fouled, it looked like the men in maroon might kick on.
However, it was Mayo who accepted the challenge in front of them by kicking four unanswered points to push themselves three to the good with 18 minutes left.
As Mayo subs failed to impress and Galway’s introduction of Walsh, Maher and Matthew Tierney brought a huge surge of energy to their ranks which in turn saw them hit four points without reply to tie the teams at 0-11 each.
It went tit-for-tat with points until Matthew Ruane and Tommy Conroy hit the target to give McStay’s lads a two-point advantage with time almost up.
With no chance of a goal at either end, that looked like a winning hand but to their credit Galway coolly ran at their opponents and when sub Daniel O’Flaherty was fouled, the unerring Rob Finnerty reduced the arrears to the minimum.
Walsh, whose cameo to this point included two points and several fine possessions, added another to level the scores for the fifth time. It then looked like extra-time was on the cards unless one team blinked in the remaining minute or so left on the clock.
Conor Loftus was that man as Galway forced a free out of his possession and Gleeson landed a winning kick from 48 metres, much to the delight of the packed Salthill stadium.
A delighted Gleeson said afterwards: “It’s something everyone dreams of, but I never thought I’d be the one kicking it. I was delighted to get the opportunity and was just relieved it went over. It was a free shot in my eyes. The game was level, so I said, 'if we miss it, we go again’. If we were a point down, that’s a different story in my head maybe,” he stressed.
From last week’s SFC draw (see below), Sunday’s Connacht final result means that champions Galway will be in a group with Derry, Westmeath and the loser of the Donegal-Armagh Ulster SF final while Mayo will be in a group with Cavan, Roscommon and the winner of the Dublin-Louth Leinster Final.
In the Munster SF final in Ennis on Sunday, Kerry as expected won out against Clare by 0-23 to 1-13 but the Banner boys surprised many with their gutsy performance which augurs well for their upcoming All Ireland series.
Galway: C Gleeson (0-2f); J McGrath, S Fitgerald, J Glynn; D McHugh, L Silke, J Daly; P Conroy, C Darcy; S Kelly, K Molloy, J Heaney (0-1); R Finnerty (0-8, 0-5f), D Comer (0-2), C Sweeney Subs: J Maher for Molloy (21), S Walsh (0-3, 0-1f) for Sweeney (33), M Tierney for Heaney (52), S Mulkerrin for Fitzgerald (65), D O’Flaherty for Daly (70).
Mayo: C Reape; S Callinan, D McBrien, R Brickenden; E McLaughlin, J Coyne, S Coen; J Carney, M Ruane (0-3); D McHugh (0-1), F Boland (0-1), J Flynn (0-1); T Conroy (0-2), A O’Shea, R O’Donoghue (0-6, 0-4f, 0-1m) Subs: D O’Connor for Boalnd (45), C O’Connor (0-1) for O’Shea (54), E Hession for Flynn (58), C Loftus for Coyne (65), B Tuohy for Carney (70).
Ref: D Gough (Meath).
2024 All-Ireland SFC draw
● Group 1: Connacht SFC Winner Galway, Ulster SFC Runner-Up, Derry, Westmeath.
● Group 2: Leinster SFC Winner, Connacht SFC Runner-Up Mayo, Roscommon, Cavan.
● Group 3: Ulster SFC Winner, Munster SFC Runner-Up Clare, Tyrone, Cork.
● Group 4: Munster SFC Winner Kerry, Leinster SFC Runner-Up, Monaghan, Meath.
2024 Tailteann Cup draw
● Group 1: Kildare, Leitrim, Longford, Waterford.
● Group 2: Sligo, Antrim, Wexford, Tipperary.
● Group 3: Fermanagh, Laois, Wicklow, Carlow.
● Group 4: Down, Offaly, Limerick, London.
