NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION ONE Galway 1-16 Donegal 0-12: ON THE week that Galway said farewell to Frank Stockwell, the current generation of maroon footballers paid tribute by putting on another luminous show of league football at Pearse Stadium.
At half-time, the league leaders were warmly applauded off the field after completely dominating a curiously lifeless Donegal. No team is advertising the finer possibilities of Gaelic football as handsomely as Galway are right now.
The scoreboard read 1-11 to 0-2 at the break and although the match was one-sided, there was much to admire in Galway’s shimmering attacking play. In recent seasons, the breathtaking understanding between Padraic Joyce and Michael Meehan has prompted inevitable comparisons with Galway’s “Terrible Twins”, Seán Purcell and Frank Stockwell.
Galway’s modern duo weren’t quite as outrageously expressive as they had been against Dublin but they still did enough to terrorise the Donegal defence. Joyce had a low-key day by his own standards but still laid on the pass that led to Meehan’s game-breaking goal, the highlight score of the Caltra man’s personal haul of 1-9.
Galway are a pure football team but they also showed a ravenous appetite for harassing and working their visitors in the first half. Traditionally, Donegal teams enjoy playing Galway because the Westerners tend to let teams play. But the work-rate of Galway’s front six was stunning at times yesterday. Donegal were facing into a wind but they struggled to get the ball beyond the halfway line.
The intricate passing approach they favour was repeatedly smashed by raiding Galway men here and but for a balletic save from their big goalkeeper Paul Durcan, Donegal would have conceded two goals by the break.
Damien Dunleavy picked off two good points from Donegal errors, Gareth Bradshaw roamed upfield to find the target and Seán Armstrong landed a beauty of a point early on. Meehan, however, was on fire all afternoon. Donegal tried several men on him but none could lessen the impression that he could score at will.
”Well, he has been playing well since last year,” said Liam Sammon. “Every time, it is a different game from him. But he is an exceptional talent.”
It seemed strange the Donegal sideline continued to allow their under-siege full-back line to deal with the Galway trio in one-on-one situations. Only after Galway had chalked up 1-9 did the visitors elect to drop a covering player in front of the back three and by then, the game was practically beyond them. They inched back into it in the second half, firing six points in a row as Galway disappeared around the middle of the field. Donegal also hit a series of wides that, theoretically at least, could have brought them right back into contention.
But manager John Joe Doherty wasn’t about to read too much into that revival. “In the first half, we were over-run,” the Glen man admitted. “No point in saying anything else. A very physically strong Galway side and we just weren’t able to handle Michael Meehan. That was the story of the game.
“It was important we got something out of the day and the lads showed a bit of heart in the jersey. They kept battling away. . . We actually missed a couple of chances. But realistically, Galway had probably stopped playing at that stage anyway.”
That was probably true. Still, this tendency to drift out of games has dogged this generation of Galway players going back to the tail-end of the John O’Mahony era.
It is a habit they will need to lose fast. They clearly possess All-Ireland winning pedigree. They are physically strong. Their defence was in complete control here – a speculative shot from Eoin Wade was Donegal’s one sniff of a goal. And the presence of a fully fit – and bulked up – Joe Bergin should make a huge addition to their claims this summer. They are shredding some decent teams in this league and won this match at a canter. Big questions have yet to be answered – like have they developed the meanness to deal with the physical and psychological demands that Kerry and Tyrone will present if they meet in the championship. But they are travelling in the right direction – and in consummate style.
Donegal, league champions two years ago, are heading the other way, at least for spring. As against Dublin, they hit full stride for no more than 10 minutes here and yet again, elementary mistakes eclipsed the occasional crispness of their attacking play. Their remaining games will see them engage in a suffocating relegation battle. Doherty remains unruffled.
“I wouldn’t be overly concerned. My major concern is to have a good idea as to the championship panel by the end of the league. In the meantime, they face a dog-fight in Ballbofey against the All-Ireland champions on Saturday night.
GALWAY: P Doherty; N Coyne, F Hanley, D Burke; G Bradshaw (0-2), D Blake, D Mullahy; J Bergin, B Cullinane; S Armstrong (0-1), P Joyce (0-1), M Lydon; D Dunleavy (0-2), M Meehan (1-9, three frees), N Joyce (0-1). Subs: D Meehan for D Mullahy (23 mins inj), F Breathnach for N Joyce (25 mins), M Clancy for F Breathnach (50 mins), G Sice for N Coyne (53 mins), D Reilly for M Lydon (63 mins).
DONEGAL: P Durcan; P McDaid, N McGee, E McGee; E Wade (0-2), R Sweeney, K Cassidy; R Kavanagh, C Toye (0-2); B Roper, C Dunne, L Thompson; M Murphy (0-2, one 45), C McFadden (0-1, free), D Walsh (0-1). Subs: M Maguire for R Sweeney (half-time), K Bonner (0-3), J Gallagher for N McGee (42 mins, yellow), S Griffin (0-1)for L Thompson (47 mins), R Bradley for M Murphy (56 mins).
Referee: P McEnaney(Monaghan).
