It certainly was an historic weekend for the GAA at Croke Park in more ways than one and, even though the football semi-final between Galway and Derry was far from being a classic, it has opened up the possibility of an intriguing final between Galway and either Kerry and Kildare. Galway were very impressive in the opening period of the match and it was obvious that their preparations had been well organised, as can be expected when John O'Mahoney is in charge.

The concentration of the Galway defence, particularly the performance of Tomas Mannion in his handling of Joe Brolly, was what gave Galway a lot of confidence from an early stage of the match. Galway proved the more well balanced side and built up the pressure early on and kept up the momentum later. They had a slack period in the second half but recovered well when Derry tried to stage a revival and were well worthy of their place in the All-Ireland final.

In my view, Michael Donnellan typified what Galway needed and wanted. He was named at lefthalf forward but played most effectively in many different positions without confining himself to any of them and he was always able to get support from the others when it was needed. This played a very big part in Galway getting a whirlwind start and, as a result, Derry's plans were disrupted in a way which surprised me. Galway managed to crowd the midfield and, as a result, Derry could not develop a pattern to their play. They could not create opportunities without clean possession of the ball and they became frustrated to some extent.

The Derry half-forward line of Gary Magill, Dermot Dougan and Eamonn Burns found it impossible to penetrate the tight Galway defence and they were forced to move the ball sideways to the wings where they lacked creativity. My belief that Derry would win control of the midfield did not materialise. Although Galway's Kevin Walsh did not look as mobile as Galway would have liked, the Derry pair of Anthony Tohill and Enda Muldoon did not live up to my expectations.

Tohill is only a pale shadow of the player we knew about four or five years ago and, although he is only in his late 20s and should be in his prime, I believe that a series of injuries has reduced his prowess considerably. Galway were wise to put Sean O Domhnaill directly on him with Walsh taking on Enda Muldoon and Galway prospered in that area.

The Connacht champions were more direct all through and they created a lot of open space. The Derry defence was indisciplined in giving away frees and Galway exploited that with great effect.

At the same time it must be mentioned that Galway will have to be more productive as far as free-taking is concerned. They use three takers but they will have to get a better return from the opportunities which are created by their colleagues. Galway were much more mobile generally. They won most of the runs to the ball being pumped forward from the defence or the midfield. This was particularly noticeable when the Galway full forward line of Derek Savage, Padraig Joyce and Niall Finnegan showed that the Derry full back line was short of pace.

In the second half, Derry had much more possession but Galway managed to control themselves. Derry might have had two goals, once when Martin McNamara saved brilliantly from Joe Brolly and later when Tohill should have been awarded a penalty.

That must worry Galway because had either of those gone in, Galway might have been in trouble. Derry's failure to convert those chances was important because they must have lost heart when their best efforts were being foiled. It may be that some of Derry's more experienced players have gone over the top. It was sad to see players like Joe Brolly, Enda Gormley and Anthony Tohill so far below what we have come to expect but there has always been a very strong youth system in Derry and we can be sure that they will be back at the top very soon.

As far as the decision to replay the ClareOffaly hurling final, I am glad that this decision has been taken and that both teams have agreed so quickly. It was an unfortunate situation and I believe that the GAA has done the right thing.

(In an interview with Sean Kilfeather)