Battle for breaks could swing Salthill showdown
Referee Patrick Neilan gets caught in the middle of Mayo's Colm Boyle and Cillian McDaid and Peter Cooke of Galway during a battle for possession in the 2019 FBD Insurance Connacht SFL at Tuam Stadium. There were few who loved contesting breaking ball more than 'Boyler' for whom the Mayo-Galway rivalry in particular was a special thing. Picture: INPHO/Bryan Keane
“Get to the ball first and you’ve a chance in football. You don’t get first to the ball, you’ve no chance”. Of all the maxims I’ve ever heard about sport, that quote by Graeme Souness is one that constantly pops in to my head when analysing a Gaelic football team’s prospects.
It’s a simple enough viewpoint but if you think about it, it makes perfect sense. If a defender is in front and beats his man to the ball, he immediately snuffs out any threat of conceding. When a forward is out in front and winning his own ball, the scoring opportunities are endless. When players in the middle third are catching clean ball or snapping in under breaks, their team will dominate possession and take the pressure off the backs and provide a platform for the forwards.
Growing up, my Dad always had a saying that “The team that wins the breaks, wins the watch”. He was obsessive about his teams dominating on breaks and most of his half-time team-talks would revolve around that aspect of the game. We played Corofin in a league match at the weekend and got wiped on breaking ball. Sure enough, Corofin dominated the breakdown and dominated the match.
It drives me crazy when victorious managers comment in a self-deprecating way post-match that “we got the breaks today”. You don’t just “get” the breaks, you go and win them. Hoovering up breaking ball is a mixture of timing, positioning, bravery and a burning desire to get your hands on the ball. Just ask Colm Boyle.
I thought that “winning breaks” was perhaps becoming less of a priority in GAA in recent times as goalkeepers dinked every kick-out short, before receiving it back and beginning a slow, methodical build-up up the field.
Last weekend changed my mind though. Teams have gotten so coordinated, organised and aggressive at pressing opposition kick-outs that goalies are increasingly forced to go long with their restarts. Never was that more evident than 10 days ago in Derry. Donegal’s total obliteration of Derry on long kick-outs led to their three goals. Inexplicably, Derry keeper Odhran Lynch was challenging Donegal midfielders in the air for Shaun Patton’s kick-outs. Donegal invariably got there first and the rest is history.
There is usually a very high correlation between winning breaks in the middle of the park and the end result. That wasn’t necessarily the case in Hyde Park though as Mayo struggled to win ball at midfield but won the match pulling up. As both teams pushed high on kickouts, Roscommon won 18 of Conor Carroll’s 21 while Mayo won only 13 of Colm Reape’s 21. Mayo’s ease of victory probably speaks to Roscommon’s wastefulness and should give the Mayo management some cause for concern.
We can’t afford to give Galway that much ball at midfield or we are asking for trouble. While Galway forwards are far from firing on all cylinders, you never give a sucker an even break. Affording Galway midfield dominance is a recipe for disaster. Mayo have a lot of tall, rangy players around the middle but I’m wondering if they need a few more groundhogs to win that dirty ball.
Colm Boyle was the greatest break winner I ever played with and worth his weight in gold to his team. I never saw a side with Boyler in it found wanting on the breaks. Paul Galvin was another who was notorious for doing the ugly work for his team. Without that ugly stuff, the prettier stuff never happens. Galvin’s battles with Cork’s Noel O’Leary were the stuff of legend but I would have loved to have seen Boyler and Galvin square up for a battle of breaking ball. There would have been fire and brimstone as an irresistible force met an immovable object.
It’s a classic rivalry but you couldn’t really call Galway or Mayo irresistible or immovable at present. Both teams have kind of been huffing and puffing along all year. Don’t get me wrong, Mayo seem to be in a better place and a more solid outfit right now but there will need to be a big improvement at midfield in Salthill. The last thing Mayo will want to do is give a team struggling for form and confidence a foothold in midfield.
Galway’s season has been all over the shop. In truth, their form since reaching the 2022 All-Ireland Final has been very underwhelming. Having gone toe-to-toe with Kerry, they were in such a strong position to kick on. The buzz and excitement that season generated around the county has dissipated as injuries have increased and interest has waned.
The natives are getting restless too. Shane Walsh was excoriated by former Galway forward, Michael Martin, on the Maroon and White podcast last week. The Milltown man remarked that Walsh has been “in cloud cuckoo land” ever since the All-Ireland Final. Strong words with the objective to stir the mercurial Walsh to life. After those stinging comments, Padraic Joyce won’t need to give Walsh any rousing motivational words this week. Mayo beware – he’ll have a point to prove.
With that in mind, one hopes that Paddy Durcan is fit to tag the Kilmacud speedster. While Walsh is Galway’s most talented player, Damien Comer is Galway’s most important one. When Comer is fit and firing, Galway are a different proposition. His duel with David McBrien should be a cracker.
In Johnny McGrath, Galway probably have one of the best corner-backs in Ireland right now. Not that that will bother Ryan O’Donoghue much as he doesn’t give a damn about reputation. McGrath is not one to take a backward step either so a titanic tussle should ensue as two tough bucks tear in to one another.
Sean Fitzgerald has been detailed to pick up Aidan O’Shea in recent times and has done pretty well. The Bearna man is much more suited to marking big men and enjoys physical encounters at full-back. I marked him in a club league game a while back and could see that he found it tricky to tag a smaller guy. Ciarán Murtagh also gave him trouble in a League Final in Croke Park a few years ago. A behemoth like Aidan is an ideal adversary for him so let’s see where Mayo position O’Shea.
Stationing Fitzgerald at full-back has allowed Galway to move Sean Kelly to midfield in recent games. He’s had an injury-interrupted last year but he’s a brilliant player and his incisive runs from deep will need to be stopped early.
Galway got out of jail in Sligo but that near escape could be a turning point for their season. Padraic Joyce’s record against Kevin McStay’s Mayo is poor but Kevin McStay and Stephen Rochford have yet to win a Connacht title as Mayo managers. Something’s got to give.
Oh my old foe, we meet on the battlefield once again. Two imperfect teams who are evenly enough matched when at full tilt. Who will win the match? The team that wins the breaks.
