After the disappointing defeat to Monaghan and subsequent relegation, there are three main areas on which the team and management must focus to have a chance of a successful 2021 championship.
Leaky defence
Padraic Joyce must be applauded for trying to get Galway playing exciting football again, which they certainly are, but the constant effort to press as many players forward as possible has led to Galway conceding some heavy scores.
So far in 2021 Galway have conceded an average of just under 24 points a game, shipping 4-21, 1-13, 2-16 and 1-21 across their four league matches. There is no question Galway does have defenders that are good enough, but the defence as a unit needs to get meaner and stop giving away so many scoreable opportunities.
The redeployment of Finian Ó’Laoi in a sweeper role helped stem the tide after the Kerry game, but the high scores kept coming against the Galway side.
Scoring ratio
This was most evident in the Monaghan game where there were too many ‘tired’ looking shots taken, with some relatively easy chances being missed or dropped into the goalkeeper’s hands.
Before being taken off with five minutes to go both Shane Walsh and Robert Finnerty missed chances that would certainly have killed the game off. Both players were Galway’s best scoring options throughout the league and were probably right to shoot given the options at the time, but these scores still need to be taken.
On another occasion Johnny Heaney fluffed his lines when a goal looked certain. Without being critical of the players, Galway simply cannot afford to be missing these chances if their summer is going to last beyond July 4.
Support channels
While Galway do not appear to have a problem getting the ball forward, on many occasions they seem to fall into the trap of running the ball into the corner and having to recycle the play. This recycling of play for any team is slow and allows the opposition a chance to set up their defensive structure.
Smart running off the shoulder and playing the ball through the channels allows Galway to play the quick attacking football the manager Padraic Joyce wants to see.
Football is a simple game, and if Galway can make these changes with the running ability of players such as Shane Walsh, Damien Comer and Seán Kelly, they can potentially go a long way in this year’s race for Sam Maguire.
Senior club
Senior club league football starts again this weekend with Milltown playing Corofin on Friday. All teams across division 1A, 1, 2A and 2B will be in actionthe weekend, and it will be interesting to see how teams fare in this return to competitive action without their county players.
Kilkerrin-Clonberne ladies made it three Connacht titles in a row last Saturday by winning the 2020 final in a facile victory against St Nathy’s on a score line of 2-26 to 0-02. The team scored 1-13 in each half with player of the match Olivia Divilly scoring 0-8, 0-4 in each half.
