The Galway U21 footballers, under the guidance of team manager Gerry Fahy, will face Mayo in the Connacht semi-final on by virtue of their 4-10 to 2-12 win over Leitrim at the weekend.
Saturday's game was a strange one in that Galway led by 4-08 to 0-2 at half time, and the game looked totally over. The only questions at that stage was by how much were Galway going to win, and when and where was the semi-final going to take place against Mayo.
However, Leitrim came out with all guns blazing in the second period and whittled that 18 point lead down to four in the closing stages, and a comeback of Barcelona proportions looked possible.
Incredibly the visitors to Tuam Stadium rattled off 2-08 without reply in that second half to bring the game to 4-8 to 2-10 and at that stage the Galway management team really needed a few players to take control in the last 10 minutes of the game.
Thankfully, team captain Michael Daly, Dylan McHugh, Sean Andy O’Ceallaigh, substitutes Colm Brennan and Antaine O’Laoi, and a few others, stepped up and linked a few passes before last year's minor captain Dessie Conneely popped a point to stop the rot.
That Galway took 25 minutes to score a single point in that second half, after leading by 18 at half time, will need to be addressed before they face Mayo. Galway's four goals last weekend were scored by Robert Finnerty, Dessie Conneely, Eoin Finnerty and Cillian McDaid
Galway: Ronan O’Beolain, Liam Kelly, Dylan McHugh, Ruairi Greene, Sean Kelly, Sean Andy O’Ceallaigh, Kieran Molloy, Peter Cooke, Michael Daly (cpt ), Colin Brady, Paul Mannion, Cillian McDaid, Robert Finnerty, Eoin Finnerty, Dessie Conneely. Subs used: C Tarpey, C Brennan, C Darcy, Antaine O’Laoi, M Boyle, C Mannion.
