With the audition process very much underway ahead of the Allianz Football League, Galway took plenty of encouragement from Friday’s Connacht FBD League semi-final win over Mayo.
The splendid NUI Galway Connacht GAA Air Dome provided the backdrop with a string of Galway newcomers, including Conor Flaherty and Seán Fitzgerald, making a significant impact.
Galway manager Padraic Joyce was satisfied with a solid performance that yielded a 0-17 to 0-13 success to earn another match against Roscommon at the same venue.
Ultimately, though, being ready for the Meath Allianz League tussle on January 30 is the objective. “We have to prepare for that, and we have been preparing for that since we came back on December 8,” Joyce says.
“The games are coming, but you can't beat games at the same time. We've a panel of 39 at the minute so we'll keep using as many lads as we can and give them plenty of games. That's the beauty of it.
“A game again next weekend [Roscommon] and a game in the league at the end of the month [Meath] which is important for us. We've got seven games in nine weeks there. It's a tough station. Even when the league is over, you only have three weeks to prepare for the most important game of the year.”
With Damien Comer and Finnian Ó Laoi influential Galway’s energy and enthusiasm was a key factor in the Mayo encounter. “It's something we're working towards as a team because while Galway is renowned for a talented group, we do seem to fade out of games and not put the work with it,” Joyce adds.
“So it's something we're focusing on this year, to try to get more work into the team and lads to do a bit more unselfish kind of work. If you've got 15 on the pitch working really hard and performing, you've half the battle in winning the game.”
The fact that Mayo were restricted to 0-13 was another boost according to Joyce. “I thought it was very good because it was a high-scoring game here the last night [between Sligo and Leitrim].
“Defensively, I thought we were excellent there. We were marshalled well there by Seán Fitzgerald. Again, we gave away a lot of soft frees. They had four scored in the first half and another three or four in the second half. Overall, I think we held them quite well up there.”
It is a busy time at the moment for inter-county panels with the Sigerson Cup commencing too.
“It's challenging,” Joyce acknowledges. “We've an awful lot with NUIG, we've two up in DCU. I think we've 13 of the panel playing Sigerson. But look I played Sigerson in my day down in Tralee and to me, it's the next best competition that's outside playing inter-county.
“We'll let the lads play the Sigerson. It is going to be mixed for a while. The colleges deserve their time as well because in fairness they've had no football in the last year. We support the colleges and our players on that, and we'll make sure they're fit and ready for college action.”
