Always living in hope of the great surprise

We all remember the first match we went to. For me, it was a chastening experience.

It was the year 2000 and having beaten Mayo in a memorable game at Markievicz Park, Sligo were full of confidence heading into a joust with John O'Mahony's Galway at the same venue in a Connacht senior football championship semi-final.

Boosted and energised by that rare win over the Green and Red, Sligo approached the Galway game with a swagger; they had reason to believe a breakthrough was imminent, given the progress made in the years previous under the management of Mickey Moran.

What transpired on that rain-soaked day could not have been any different – this 5-year-old watched on from the top of my father's shoulders on the terrace in Markievicz as the players trudged off at half-time with the scoreboard reading Sligo 0-0 Galway 0-14. Welcome to the real world, buddy.

24 years on, the two counties come face to face again in a provincial semi-final. 18 points separated the sides at the finish in 2000 (22 points to four). I doubt the margin will come close to that this weekend, yet it was 14 points last year when Galway won the Connacht final at MacHale Park.

To be perfectly straight, Galway should win this game and win it comfortably. But, as always, you'll pick at crumbs to make the case for your own county, so here's my attempt at doing just that through a Sligo lens.

This is an improving Sligo team. Instead of being content with retaining their Division Three status, the Sligo players and management will feel as though it was an opportunity missed, especially given the ease with which they overcame the challenge of Westmeath in the final round. Just six days later, the Lake County lifted the Division Three trophy on the steps of the Hogan Stand.

Players look to be finding form. Especially encouraging against Leitrim was the display of Niall Murphy, who kicked five points in all and helped control the game well when he came deeper in the second-half. Murphy scoring more heavily will ease Sligo's reliance on Sean Carrabine, who also occupied a deeper role in Pairc Sean.

Speaking of the middle third, the display of Canice Mulligan last Sunday week will give Sligo supporters plenty of hope for the coming years. Making an immediate impression, following on from his efforts against Westmeath, the St Pat's man looks set for a long career in the black and white. This weekend will provide a test of his credentials – but on the basis of all evidence so far, he'll rise to the task.

Defensively, there was a lot to like about Sligo's display in Carrick on Shannon. They tied up the Leitrim dangermen, Ryan O'Rourke and Darragh Rooney, really well, with Nathan Mullen and Evan Lyons both impressive. Granted, this weekend's challenge is a much bigger one but a mean Sligo defence would provide a real platform to gain a foothold in the game. Sligo will, naturally, find themselves dropping deeper with Galway set to enjoy more possession than Leitrim did. That could well lend itself to problems as Galway have the players, like Paul Conroy and Rob Finnerty, to land scores from range. It's a fine line, but Sligo should try as best they can to play on the front foot and be aggressive for as long as they can.

Next to the form line between these two counties. Sligo have had Galway's measure on a number of occasions over the last 20 years, with wins over the Tribesmen in 2007, 2010 and 2012. Yet the gap has widened considerably in the years since – Galway's last three wins over Sligo (in 2018, 2019 and 2023) have been by a combined margin of 48 points.

Galway, though, have not been firing on anything close to all cylinders so far this year.

Padraic Joyce's charges laboured to safety in Division One of the Allianz Football League, though that in itself is probably an achievement. Galway selector, John Concannon, told reporters at the launch of the Connacht Championship that at one point this spring, there were 21 players on the injury list.

Chief among them are Galway's three key forwards – Damien Comer, Matthew Tierney and Shane Walsh. None of those players togged for the win over London and there is some talk that Walsh may be absent for some time.

Depth is a word we've heard and read a lot about from managers with designs on winning Sam later this year, and Galway have developed some depth within their panel. Like Mayo, it is probably the case that after reaching the league final in 2023, Galway took the view that the league wasn't the be-all and end-all this year. They looked leggy in a couple of their Division One fixtures, which suggests they may have been combining their league exploits with bouts of heavy training midweek.

With that in mind, the Tribesmen may be coming to the boil at the right time. It's impossible to read too much into their win over London given the gap, but their hunger for goals in particular was noticeable and, notably, four of them came in the second-half when they ran the ball more into the wind. Sligo will need to be mindful of that this Sunday.

I do think when they have everyone fit and available, Galway are the best placed of the teams outside the current top three (Dublin, Kerry and Derry) to have a proper crack at landing Sam.

There has been much talk over the opening two weekends of the championship about how the provincial series has become a blight on the calendar. I don't think they'll vanish entirely from the GAA scene, like the once popular Railway Cup, but it feels like we're at a stage now where something has to change with the provincials. Moving them to earlier in the spring, before the National League, is the move that, right now, seems to fit best.

Yet, for all that, it's hard not to look forward to a championship day out. Yes it's April, yes it will be colder than it might be in June and yes, it's unlikely that Sligo will win. But there's a crumb of hope – there always is – and when there’s that, sometimes that's all we need.

Like the 5-year-old who travelled to watch Sligo back in 2000 for the first time, I'm still hoping Sligo will spring a surprise.

The Connacht SFC semi-final between Sligo and Galway will be played at Markievicz Park next Saturday, April 20 at 3.30pm. The referee is Barry Tiernan from Derry.