Pictured is Galway footballer Seán Kelly who has teamed up with Allianz Insurance to look ahead to his county’s All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Group stages campaign and what will be a busy summer of Gaelic football.
By John Harrington
Galway captain, Sean Kelly, says the Tribesmen are targeting top spot in their All-Ireland SFC group that also includes Derry, Armagh, and Westmeath.
Last year they finished second in a group that also included Armagh and Westmeath as well as Tyrone, and missed out on top spot because of a defeat to Armagh in their last group game.
That meant they had to play a preliminary quarter-final a week later against Mayo when a one-point defeat knocked them out of the championship.
Had they finished top they would have been straight through to a quarter-final and benefited from a two-week break, so Kelly knows all too well the difference being a top seed can make.
“Massively, you have to put that pressure on yourself,” he says.
“Getting that top seed is important, it avoids playing an extra game, that prelim which is a huge battle and you’re playing three weeks in a row.
“You do have to put that pressure on yourself but also we know it’s going to be a huge challenge. It’s not just Derry and Armagh but also Westmeath who gave us a great game last year. We got over the line in the second half, thankfully.
“Every team they played last year they gave them a great game, they probably should have beaten Tyrone that day if I remember right.
“It’s going to be huge challenges but it’s something we look forward to.”
Arguably no game will be more challenging than their first one this Saturday against Allianz Football League champions, Derry.
They’ve had four weeks to recover from their surprise defeat to Donegal and Kelly is expecting them to be the best version of themselves.
“It's going to be a huge challenge, they've had a great year," he said.
“They've had a good rest and they will be rearing to go because they were probably disappointed with their performance against Donegal so it's going to be a huge challenge.
“They have such a great squad with a lot of strong runners, good ball players. It’s going to be a huge battle.
“It’s not just one to 15 with them, they have five or six players off the bench that can make a massive impact.
“It’s something you look forward to.”
Sean Kelly of Galway in action against Paul Cassidy of Derry during the Allianz Football League Division 1 match between Galway and Derry at Pearse Stadium in Galway. Photo by Ray Ryan/Sportsfile
Derry suffered a tactical meltdown in that Ulster quarter-final defeat to Donegal when their strategy of pushing goalkeeper Odhrán Lynch high up the pitch to force a full press on the opposition kick-out was brutally exposed.
Three of the four goals that Derry conceded happened when Lynch was caught upfield, but Kelly doesn’t necessarily believe that means they’ll abandon the tactic on Saturday.
“The strategy for their press, they’ve done it all year so do they change it after one game? I know Donegal got great joy off it so who knows?
“You kind of have to adjust on the fly nearly in game, be like ‘what’s happening here?’ If they don’t they’re probably a body down in the press and it’s something we can look to exploit as well.
“Who knows what they do but it’s just learning in game as quick as you can to take advantage of whatever they’re trying to do.”
Galway come into Saturday’s game with a bounce in their step after a one-point Connacht Final victory over Mayo.
After an injury-ravaged League campaign they have key players like Kelly himself, Damien Comer, Shane Walsh, and Matthew Tierney fit again, and the young players they were forced to blood in the League have benefited from the experience.
"Oh yeah, definitely,” says Kelly. “To be playing Division 1 football for their first year on the panel was a huge challenge for them but they really put out some good performances and really built the depth of our panel which was important and good to see too.
**“**Having important players back gives us good momentum. At the same time, we know it is a huge battle to not just get a starting 15 jersey, but to get on to the 26.
“We feel fresh now and rearing to go. But, at the same time, we still know we have a lot of work to do too.
“The last few weeks now there have been some hard trainings and thankfully these kind of positive results and games every two weeks helps and it's good to have that for the confidence and just your own belief in yourself too.”
