Galway out for revenge as champions begin title defence

Allianz NFL Division 1 – Round 1 

Galway v Mayo 

Sunday, January 28 

1.45pm at Pearse Stadium

In what is the pick of the Division 1 ties, Mayo begin the defence of their National Football League title with an eagerly-anticipated game against Padraic Joyce’s Galway.

The two sides met in Castlebar last year in the opening round also, as Ryan O’Donoghue’s last-gasp point ensured a share of the spoils. Salthill will be the battleground on this occasion but Mayo will have no qualms about making the trip down the N84 as it was there that Kevin McStay’s side ended Galway’s All-Ireland championship run last year, David McBrien’s goal proving the difference in a knockout qualifier.

The Ballaghaderreen man enjoyed a breakthrough year for Mayo but saw his involvement in the subsequent club championship curtailed with a season-ending shoulder injury.

Mayo selector Damien Mulligan has confirmed McBrien is back in contention as well as vice-captain Tommy Conroy but the game will come too soon for James Carr (ankle) and Padraig O’Hora (knee) who are continuing their comebacks from respective injuries sustained on club duty.

Conroy played the majority of University of Galway’s win over ATU Sligo in the Sigerson Cup last week as did teammate Ryan O’Donoghue and their minutes will be managed while they remain on third-level duty, with Mayo supporters hoping for no repeat of Conroy’s season-ending cruciate injury in 2022.

“With the third-level competitions, we take them seriously,” said Kevin McStay last week. “We’re big supporters of the third-level championships. Most of our players have been winning so it’s not getting any easier on a Tuesday and Wednesday. Damien is correct when he says it’s about the player and the load.

“As a manager and how we speak about it as management, we’re very committed to those competitions and exposing our lads to them as the standard is very good.”

McStay’s plans ahead of the National League saw a wrench thrown into the works when London pulled off a surprise win against what was an experimental Green and Red in the FBD quarter-final. The Ballina man said the performance was “not good enough” but reiterated his support for the pre-season competition which saw intense criticism from the GPA.

“I may have been slightly taken out of context or wasn’t careful enough with my words. We were disappointed with the result for a very simple reason: we lost two more games. We had a semi-final and a final provisionally in the schedule and they were two more opportunities to have a look at more players; a nice mixture of some established lads and new lads. We’d have two more looks.

“Of course, we had a Plan B with provisional challenge games lined up but the FBD competitive games would have suited us lovely. They were at a nice rhythm for what we wanted to get out of it. I was disappointed but I hope I came across as magnanimous as I could be to London. They came and were highly organised as all teams are now and you’ll see more of that this season. They are well-coached, came with a gameplan to get the most out of it for themselves.

“You’re not going to stampede too many of them. If you took me up as blunt, that was not the intention.”

McStay added: “We have to find pitches, to find referees, getting pitches lined etc. Then you get a dreaded call on Friday night from the chair to say the place is swamped. When John Prenty (Connacht GAA secretary) gives us fixtures down in the Dome, the ref and everything is just there, gorgeous, we remain big supporters of the FBD League. It makes our lives easier.”

Galway reached the final of the FBD but their development team was blown away by Roscommon in the final last Friday night.

The result, then, must be taken with a large pinch of salt as Roscommon boss Davy Burke fielded a much more seasoned panel.

Padraic Joyce has returned Damien Comer, Shane Walsh and Johnny Heaney to the starting 15, with the likes of Paul Conroy and Matthew Tierney also in the 26 and the Tribesmen will be eager to record a first win over Mayo since the opening round of the 2022 Connacht SFC.

Galway lost the Division 1 final to Mayo in Croke Park last April as well as the aforementioned qualifier in Salthill and both sides will know how important it is to hit the ground running in the ruthless cauldron that is Division 1 football.

With a home tie against All-Ireland champions Dublin and a trip to Tralee to face Kerry in their next two games, Mayo’s need for a win is arguably greater.