Ray Silke, Galway, and Johnny Crowley, Kerry, during the drawn 2000 All Ireland SFC Final.
By Cian O'Connell
Progress has been made by Galway - a second successive All Ireland SFC Quarter-Final appearance and Allianz Football League Division One status secured.
Small, but sigificant steps have been taken with former All Ireland winning captain Ray Silke encouraged by how Galway are developing under Kevin Walsh’s guidance.
On Sunday, though, Galway face a demanding test against a potent Kerry outfit stuffed with attacking power and precise finishers.
Despite suffering a Connacht Final defeat to Roscommon, Silke was satisfied with Galway’s response in their Round 4A triumph over Donegal.
“I think Kevin Walsh and his management team deserve an awful lot of credit, genuine credit, particularly for winning a Connacht Championship, which they hadn't won for a good few years and getting promoted to Division One for 2018 – that is huge progress,” Silke says.
“While the defeat to Roscommon was a knockback, the 15 point win over Donegal and the good performance has just brought us to where we were going to be anyway had we won the Connacht Final.
“We are playing Kerry in an All Ireland Quarter, we will know where we are on Sunday evening, the work that needs to happen.”
Three Connacht minor titles on the spin have been secured, while the Galway Under 21 team reached the EirGrid All Ireland Final in May.
Silke expects some of those exciting and emerging footballers in the county to make an impact soon too. “We have some talented young guys to come into it in 2018, I think Cillian McDaid, hopefully he stays in this county, he will be an addition next year.
“Sean Andy O'Ceallaigh that everyone is on about from the Under 21s, he will be blooded next year, hopefully he will get a chance in the League if he is available and injury free.
“Then you have a few young minors like Sean Mulkerrins, the current minor captain, he is a fantastic young player. We have forwards, it is to blend in a few new people around the backs, that is what we are working towards.”
Tom Flynn netted a goal for Galway against Kerry in the 2014 All Ireland SFC Quarter-Final.
Silke, who soldiered in the maroon and white jersey alongside Walsh for a decade, wants Galway to deliver a gutsy display against Kerry at GAA headquarters.
“Kevin has made significant progress and the amount of time being put in is huge,” Silke states. “A lot of supporters or so called supporters wouldn't be aware of the commitment that is there. It was disappointing how quick people were prepared to shell out a lot of flak on social media and things like that.
“The work that goes in is unseen, it takes a phenomenal amount of time. As Kevin McStay correctly put it, when you win you are fantastic, when you lose you are a clown, he is right, it isn't that simple. Galway have made progress, but it is important that on Sunday we produce a good, solid performance.
“We have gone from being outside the top 10-12 teams to at least being very competitive with the vast amount of teams. Two teams are above everyone else, that is Kerry and Dublin.”
So can Galway seriously examine the Munster standard bearers at the Jones Road venue? “For Galway to go into the ring with them on Sunday they are going to have to box very, very clever, be very defensive early on,” Silke reckons.
“The most important thing for Galway is that they hold things tight for the first 20 or 25 minutes, to get into the game. Kerry are so good that they can get in early to put a few sucker punches on you. If they were to get in for a flurry of scores or an early goal or two that would deflate Galway significantly.
“What the plan is I don't know, but there has to be a plan to keep the half back line close to the full back line to give an extra bit of protection to (Cathal) Sweeney, (Declan) Kyne, and (Eoghan) Kerin or whoever is in there.
“We can't have a situation where Kerry are allowed to play long ball into the full forward line with guys one on one.
“If that happens we are going to be in dire straits, we will be in trouble, and Bernard Power is going to be a very busy goalie. If we can hold it together, maybe until half-time, even three or four down we would have something to fight for.
“Nobody I have spoken to expects Galway to win. That isn't a bad position for Galway to be in. Likewise Kerry haven't been overly tested, they have beaten Clare and Cork, who were lacklustre on the day.
“Based on form and the last few years it is Kerry's to win, but that isn't to say the Galway supporters who are going up aren't going up without hope of giving a big performance.
"It is very hard to see Galway creating an upset, even when we played last time in the Quarter-Final in 2014, while Galway put it up to them for a while, Micheal Lundy got a good goal, Tom Flynn got a fine goal aswell, but when the chips were down Kerry were well able to pull away."
Liam Silke scored a goal for Galway against Donegal last Saturday.
The Silke family are heavily involved in the current set-up - selector Brian Silke, Ray’s brother, won an All Ireland medal with Galway in 1998 and his son Liam is a key figure in the Galway defence.
Galway need to be resourceful and resilient in the middle third of the field according to Ray Silke. “You go in hope and if Galway can do well in the middle third from Liam Silke at wing back up as far as (Michael) Daly, Shane Walsh, Damien Comer, for Galway to win they are going to have to dominate strongly in that area, but that is very tough when you have David Moran and Anthony Maher there for Kerry,” Silke states.
“Tom Flynn and Paul Conroy will need huge games for Galway. The big fear for Galway and the reality of the situation is that Galway's full-back line has been porous enough during the League and during the Championship.
“They are probably coming up against (Paul) Geaney, James O'Donoghue, and Kieran Donaghy. As a Galway supporter, and as somebody who goes to a lot of Galway matches, and who would wish Kevin Walsh and the team the absolute best, that would be the fear on Sunday. Will our full-back line be able to keep those guys out? Based on what we have seen before it is unlikely that we will.
“The positive in Markievicz Park was they worked so, so hard, particularly Paul Conroy, who I thought was immense in the middle of the field. Johnny Heaney had a fine game, but we need everyone to see where we are. There will have to be belief and conviction in this Galway squad.”
Galway didn’t lack either when Silke captained Galway to All Ireland glory in 1998. That was when the Tribesmen were a feared and respected outfit throughout the land.
Kerry did defeat Galway following a replay in the 2000 All Ireland Final. “My contention is that if Galway had Ja Fallon and Tomas Mannion maybe that result would have been different, but they are the breaks,” Silke reflects.
“We didn't have them and Kerry won that replay fairly well. We did have opportunities the first day, 0-14 to 0-14, but we there were a few chances for Galway to win that game. They were the thin margins back then, they won fairly well in the replay.
“Speaking to Seamus Moynihan one day at the launch of the Cairdre movement, he put it very well and was incredibly decent, he said they would have preferred if Fallon and Mannion were playing.
“He said 'if we won, we won, but nobody could ever say that again because you want to beat the best team available at that time'. Since then Kerry have pushed on enormously collecting six or seven All Ireland titles.”
Always striving to be better in their annual quest for Sam Maguire, Kerry continue to earn plaudits and silverware. Galway are back on the road to respectability, but a revealing 70 minutes beckons.
