CONNACHT SFC FIRST ROUND: Galway 3-15 Roscommon 0-10:IN the 33rd minute of this match, Joe Bergin didn't so much catch as wolf a ball down from the sky to set in motion another Galway attack. The sight must have had Galway football people licking their chops.
The big Mountbellew man has made plenty of spectacular catches in his decade of service to the maroon cause, but he has rarely been as intense and central to the Galway game plan as he was here in Hyde Park.
It says something that on a day when Galway Paul Conroy gave a revelatory performance at full-forward and Gareth Bradshaw maintained the excellent form he has demonstrated all league that Bergin was still probably the pick of the bunch.
Alan Mulholland’s could not have designed a more perfect championship debut than the way it panned out here. Suffice to say it was the biggest win Galway have ever posted in Roscommon town.
The afternoon even felt vaguely summery and if the choc-ices weren’t enough, the visitors were treated to the sight of Messrs Meehan and Joyce entering the theatre to resume the most tantalising double act in Gaelic games. Meehan has been a beacon for all that is good in Galway football for so long it is hard to credit he is only yet 27.
He has had a nightmarish couple of years with his ankle injury, and his first act on the field was to follow Sean McDermott on a three-quarter length sprint as the Roscommon corner back sought clarification that Meehan’s ankle was, in fact, up to the job.
He played an excellent 20 minutes, albeit in undemanding circumstances, and his rehabilitation towards full fitness is an ongoing project.
The decision to cast Paul Conroy as a traditional full forward during the league paid dividends here. The St James’s man advertised his mindset with a smart turn-and-shoot point in the 10th minute and proceeded to cause terror among the Roscommon rearguard thereafter.
His lay-off to Mark Hehir for Galway’s first goal came about when the home team were in disarray: a moment of distraction appeared to afflict the team after Michael Finneran departed with an injury, and when Conroy took possession, he looked up to see his team-mate blazing a trail to the Roscommon goal with no primrose shirt in pursuit.
That score seemed to shake Roscommon and Galway reeled off four smooth points, with a sublime pick-up and flick by Conroy for Sice the highlight of that spell. The contest was effectively ended in the 23rd minute. Johnny Duane, looking tidy and comfortable at centre back, plucked a ball from the sky and, after taking a return pass from Kieran McGrath, lobbed a perfectly weighted ball downfield for his full forward.
Conroy dominated the tussle for possession and had goal on his mind before his feet hit the turf. His finish was low and decisive. Trailing by 2-6 to 0-3, Roscommon’s day was in tatters.
Their first two points, brilliant efforts from Senan Kilbride and Karol Mannion in the 4th and 5th minutes, seemed to suggest that Roscommon confidence was high and that they were in the mood to make life awkward for their neighbours. But they had no answer to a blistering period of maroon dominance.
Encouraging spells either side of half-time gave the home support in the crowd of 12,962 something to shout about, but it was a brief rebellion. Cathal Cregg was bright and menacing every time he got the ball and he set Donal Shine up for Roscommon’s best goal chance in the 33rd minute.
Shine has been the talisman for the recent revival in Primrose football but he had an underwhelming day here, struggling to get much change out of Keith Kelly and also in his place-kicking duties.
However, he did put David O’Gara through in the 38th minute and had the substitute goaled – his shot blazed over the crossbar – Roscommon might have engineered some sort of revival.
Instead, Conroy thumped another fine point into the graveyard goal and Galway were back in business. Meehan clearly enjoyed his return, firing two points and collecting a long ball from Joyce and tap-dancing through the Roscommon defence before flicking a pass from Sice to goal from close range.
By then, all of the anticipated championship intensity had left Hyde Park and suddenly the heady days of Roscommon’s provincial title coup of two years ago seemed very far away. It might have gotten worse too as Danny Cummins, loitering around the Roscommon square, palmed a ball against the crossbar only to have it rebound off him and fly inches wide.
The whistle must have come as a relief for Roscommon, who face a long wait after this dispiriting exit. Galway have just under weeks for a Saturday fixture in Salthill which will see Mulholland and Kevin Walsh, minor and senior team-mates from a fair few moons ago, patrolling the sidelines.
GALWAY: A Faherty; K McGrath (0-1); F Hanley; K Kelly; G Bradshaw (0-2); J Duane; G O'Donnell; J Bergin (0-2); G Higgins; G Sice (1-3, 0-2 frees); D Burke; T Flynn; S Armstrong (0-1); P Conroy (1-4); M Hehir (1-0). Subs: M Meehan (0-2, 0-1 free) for S Armstrong (45 mins); Pádraic Joyce for D Burke (51 mins); T Fahy for G O'Donnell (54 mins); D Cummins for M Hehir (65 mins). Yellow cards: Burke (28 mins); Hehir (36 mins); Bradshaw (55 mins).
ROSCOMMON:G Claffey; S McDermott; N Carty; S Purcell; C Dineen; P Domican; I Kilbride; M Finneran; K Mannion (0-1); D Keenan; C Cregg (0-1); J Rogers; S Kilbride (0-3, 0-2 frees); D McDermott; D Shine (0-2, frees). Subs: N Daly for M Finneran (inj: 11 mins); D O'Gara (0-2) for J Rogers (23 mins); G Heneghan (0-1) for D Keenan (47 mins); K Higgins for D McDermott (57 mins); C Shine for I Kilbride (65 mins). Yellow card: I Kilbride (53 mins).
Referee:J McQuillan (Cavan).
‘IT IS FANTASTIC TO PLAY LIKE THAT’
POST-MATCH TALK:THERE was little for Alan Mulholland to say after this comprehensive win other than he was justifiably pleased with the days work, writes Keith Duggan. "It went according to plan," he acknowledged.
“ The first 20 minutes gave us a platform to see how the game [was going]. Bit worrying in the middle third of the game when they came back into it and we looked a bit ropey.
“But we were able to bring PJ and Michael Meehan in and that calmed us down a bit.”
Given it is several years since Galway has enjoyed a good day in the championship, was it going to be difficult to keep their feet on the ground?
“No. We will get totally carried away now. No, we know that Kevin is waiting in the wings with Sligo. Kevin knows Galway football better than I do, probably, so it is going to be hell for leather. But we will draw confidence from that.
“We are not going to pretend we didn’t play well. It is fantastic to play like that and we hope we can play better and build on it.”
After reappearing from the back of the dressingroom where the television interviews were being conducted, Des Newton stopped to give his thoughts on a rough afternoon for Roscommon.
“If you are not achieving parity in the middle of the field and not showing the required desire in every other area of the field, we have to look at ourselves and say we were wanting in those areas. But I am not going to do any fellow in that dressingroom down because they have all given me hugely in the past six months in everything I have asked for.
“We finished the first half well and started the second half but when you don’t get the few scores on the board to bring you back within striking distance the heads tend to drop.
“Losing Michael Finneran wasn’t an excuse in the overall scheme of the game but it did have an effect in the following 10 minutes when Galway put 2-3 on the board and opened a gap that was too big for us to close. But we know we are better than we looked out there today.”
