Galway may have dropped another point last weekend, but with division one league football being ultra competitive this year, a win against a resurgent Monaghan this coming Sunday would almost guarantee safety for 2024.
Galway were by far the better team in the second half in Letterkenny, preventing Donegal from scoring from the 31st to the 67th minutes. Galway's defence has been quite mean throughout the league so far, but some wayward shooting from the home side helped their cause as Donegal kicked 13 wides in total. Had not a Paul Conroy free in the last play of the game sailed wide, Galway could have brought both valuable points back to Galway.
Matthew Tierney picked up where he left off in Tuam Stadium the previous week with another man of the match performance, notching 1-3 (1’45 ).
Tierney's goal came at a crucial juncture of the first half. Seconds earlier Oisin Gallen struck his penalty past keeper Connor Gleeson to put his side five points up, but Galway worked their way up the pitch before Tierney's fierce strike rattled the back of the net. It was the response needed to get themselves back in the game.
Most worryingly for Joyce and his management team, however, is that Galway yet again let slip a convincing lead. After allowing Roscommon back in the game - not scoring in the last 25 minutes - and almost letting Tyrone back in, Galway then let slip a two point lead with Donegal who scored three of the last four points. Galway had kept them out for 36 minutes, before they scored in the 67th, 68th and 71st minutes, with a Rob Finnerty point in between.
Disappointed with his side's performance, he said it was a point gained rather than one lost, and that delivering any result away from home in this competitive league was a difficult task.
Galway, with Monaghan to play in Pearse Stadium on Sunday (12.45pm ), must get a result to distance themselves from the bottom of the table as they face two more extremely tough games to finish out the league.
Having lost their opening two games, the Farney men had looked in trouble, but once again they have begun to pull themselves towards safety. Now, even in fifth position, they find themselves just two points off top, as is Galway.
Having beaten Donegal by eight points, Monaghan followed up with a three-point win against the previously unbeaten Roscommon.
With every game in division one crucial and with only four points separating top and bottom, two points at any stage can make or break the campaign, especially for the teams in and around the middle.
A win on Sunday could temporarily put Galway in a league final position; loss could put them in one of the relegation places. This is competitive football at every stage, everything the GAA wants.
