The build up to an All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final is a special time for all involved and for those on the fringes watching on hoping that Galway get over the line on Sunday.
The buzz and excitement is no different for John Concannon, who will be there on Sunday alongside Padraic Joyce on the sideline offering insights and thoughts, as Galway look to take down Kerry in Croke Park.
“It’s brilliant, the buzz around the city, I work in the city and buzz around there, and then when you go home to the county there is a buzz everywhere and it is great to have Galway football back in it and look, while there is a brilliant buzz, we know we have a job to do. We have to protect the players, we have to train them and fine tune them as best we can in order for them to prepare for the biggest game of their lives on Sunday.”
The toughest part for any management team in the past week will have been telling some of those who’ve put in the hard yards and miles on the training fields all year, they won’t be part of the match-day squad and will have to sit it out - but the group knows the value of everyone whose put their shoulder to the wheel, Concannon told us.
“Yeah, that’s the worst part of it. But in fairness the lads are such a strong group, we have 40 on the panel and two of those are long term injuries which is so disappointing to Sean Mulkerins and James McLoughlin and it is so hard on those two as well.
“But the other 12 lads on the 38 to cut down to 26, whoever doesn't make the 26 on the day while they will be massively disappointed, they know and we know as a group the effort they have made, and the contribution they have made to get the team to where they are.”
It was a difficult first two years for Padraic Joyce and his management team since they took over the side. Things were flying and then Covid struck. Everything came crashing to a halt for a few months and when it got back up and going, Galway weren’t able to get back to the pitch they had hit before the interruption. But things got back to normal and Galway have risen to every task put in front of them so far this year according to Concannon.
“Look, I keep saying it, whether it is an excuse of not we really didn’t enjoy the Covid (years ), we started off like a whirlwind played great open football, just getting ready in division one what we were thinking would be a division one final and then the Covid hit and we never really (got back ), it was hard to train.
“We got to a Connacht final without a semi-final, lost by a point, could have levelled it up - Sean Hurson was reffing at the time and we could have got a penalty with Sean Kelly at the end and Mayo went on to the All-Ireland final that year.
"Those kind of things might have brought on our players a bit earlier and got them used to playing in big occasions a bit earlier - but look it is what is, we didn’t play well those years and thankfully this year we seem to have turned a corner as a group and hopefully come the big day on Sunday that will all work out against Kerry.”
Galway set themselves a number of key things to achieve this year, starting with getting out of division two and once that was achieved it was a laser focus on the clash with Mayo in Castlebar in April and then it was all about hitting the next marker once they got over that.
“The Mayo game was huge, getting promoted to division one was the big thing, then the concentration was on the Mayo game and to try and win that down in Castlebar that game was a watershed moment in a lot of ways.
"It just gave the confidence that the players needed to win a game of that magnitude and then the Leitrim game and the Roscommon game in the Connacht final. Once we achieved the Connacht final, everything after that was to win the All-Ireland final. We didn’t know who were playing at the time, then we got Armagh and then Derry and now have Kerry in the final.”
The experience of winning those games is something that Galway hadn’t had in years gone by and Concannon is confident that the players have learned from those games how to win the big matches and bring it forward to the next one.
“The biggest thing, we feel is that the players themselves have a massive belief in their ability and now that they have the experience of winning these games in Croke Park, winning the Connacht final, winning in MacHale Park the belief they have now is coming through, they have the confidence; they know they can do it. So adding that up along with footballing ability they have, hopefully that will all bear fruit on the big day.”
The Galway attacking threat has received plenty of attention this summer, but it’s the effort all over the park that has seen them progress through the championship to Sunday’s final.
“It’s unreal, go back to Kieran Molloy he played corner back, wing back, he’s played midfield; Liam Silke plays corner back, centre-back he plays wing back the defence don’t get enough credit because they are not the main scorers, but they are all part of the attacking strategy. It is not only the big names, the Shane Walshs, Damien Comers and Paul Conroys. Maybe in the past we were relying on them too much, these lads are coming in now and in their own right are making a massive contribution in their own way.”
Twenty one years away from the senior final is far too long of a gap believes Concannon for a football county like Galway and he hopes this year and all the work done at underage levels will see a sustained level of returns on the senior stage for Galway.
“That is the hope, the minors at U17 level this year, we have been contesting at minor, we won at U20 in the last few years and the seniors now getting to an All-Ireland final.
"Football is in great place, we have to be contesting All Ireland semi-finals and finals on a regular pace - with the proud footballing county that Galway is and in fairness to the board everything is in place for that to happen, we were delighted for Alan Glynn and the Galway minors win, it was a great boost for the seniors going into the match the next day.”
