Once upon a time in America, teams travelling to Gaelic Park were well warned about the perils of playing New York in the Connacht Senior Football Championship. Not just the fearsome prospect of losing, but New York’s tendency to send their opposition back home with some bruising souvenirs.
Rob Finnerty isn’t so sure that still applies these days. In his now seven seasons on the Galway senior panel, Finnerty has yet to play New York, and speaks about this Sunday’s meeting at Gaelic Park (8pm Irish time) with great relish and anticipation.
“The first year Pádraic Joyce came in [in 2020], we were all set to go to New York, then Covid hit,” Finnerty says. “So we missed out on our turn that time. It feels like it’s a long time coming now. Some of us have been on the panel for the guts of eight years and never got to go.
“It’s kind of snuck up on us now, we’ve been focusing on the league, and it’s such a quick turnaround. But it’s such a cool experience to get to go over to New York to play a championship game. All really excited, can’t wait. I never played in Gaelic Park, I played in Boston one summer, in 2023, with the McAnespie club, and enjoyed that.”
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When New York first joined the Connacht championship in 1999, some teams saw the trip as a bit of a jolly, but that’s not the case any more either. “It’s strictly business now. We get there Thursday evening, might go for a kick in Gaelic Park on the Friday, but we’ll be keeping the heads down. We might get to mix with family and supporters on the Sunday, then fly back on the Monday. If we get over New York, we have Roscommon two weeks after.”
For Finnerty, who turns 27 later this month, the trip will also reunite him with one of his former clubmates at Salthill-Knocknacarra: Donal Hunt, a Kerry native, who is set to make his first championship start for New York.
“He went over to New York last year, and said he was thinking about going in playing with New York. And I just found out that he is now playing for New York.
“He’s a Kerry man, played in my club in Galway for a few years, when he was down here in college. That’ll be an interesting one. To be honest, we don’t know much about the New York team, they haven’t played in the national league, and there’s always a huge turnover in players as well.”
Speaking at an AIB football sponsorship event, Finnerty is keen to get his championship under way for other reasons. In his last championship match of 2024, the one-point loss to Armagh in the All-Ireland final, Finnerty’s experience was made all the worse by the knee injury which forced his replacement after just 10 minutes. Finnerty still collected his first All Star, but that memory will always linger.
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“You do still think back to it, and be sickened at the thought,” he says, Finnerty emulating his father, Anthony, who also played in two All-Ireland football finals for Mayo, in 1989 and 1996. “Having that opportunity taken away from you after 10 minutes is a difficult place to be.
“You gear yourself up for such a big game, hope to go out and have a positive influence, and when it’s all gone from you, so fast, that’s really tough. Still is, to be honest. All you can do is try to get back there, and hope things go right for you the next time. I thought the best thing for me was just to get away from it, go back playing with the club. I’m trying not to look back.”
Finnerty underwent knee surgery a few weeks later, limiting his league participation, and despite missing out on the Division One final, he believes Galway got plenty from their campaign. They topped the new two-pointer scoring charts, with 29 in all throughout the league, with Shane Walsh responsible for 15.
“We do have a lot of good kickers, and I know Shane has kicked a good chunk of them. But I think maybe even conditions, like, we played on a lot of windy days where it was probably even easier to kick with the breeze at your back. It’s going to suit some teams, not all teams, but I think Kerry have shown as well it’s not all about two-pointers. It’s a weapon, and will definitely be used by loads of teams.
“The main thing is it’s a lot more enjoyable for everyone to play, and a lot more enjoyable to watch. I can see tweaks, and I’m not sure the two-point line will always be there. But the days of 15 behind the ball inside the 45 are gone. I can’t see those days coming back.
“We also did a lot of things right last year – two finals in three years is not bad. We don’t need to rip up the script or anything, we just need to stick to the process, find one or two small tweaks.”
