Minors meet in-form Red Hands
TYRONE followed in the footsteps of Kildare, Cork and Roscommon in capturing provincial silverware last Friday evening, setting the stage for next weekend's All-Ireland Minor Football Championship quarter-finals.
Galway, as Connacht runners-up, take on the Red Hands, the reigning All-Ireland champions at the grade. Throw-in at Ashbourne in Meath is timed for 2 o’clock on Saturday afternoon. Elsewhere, it's Roscommon-Derry, Kildare-Kerry and Cork-Meath in the remaining last eight ties at U-17 level.
Galway's quest for a first provincial title at the grade since 2018 came up short against Roscommon on May 8. Cossie Gilmore's side trailed by nine points at half-time and eight at the three-quarter mark before a driving finish clawed it back.
Adam Healy's goal was the catalyst along with the two-point shooting of 'keeper Evan Burke and Ryan Connolly. They created a last-gasp opportunity to win it but Burke's effort, from all of 55 metres, fell inches short of clearing the crossbar seconds before the final whistle sounded (3-12 to 1-17).
The Rossies are the only team to defeat Galway to date, easily dealing with their poorest display of the campaign in the round-robin phase (1-6 to 0-14). Victories for the Tribesmen over Leitrim (2-18 to 1-9), Sligo (0-19 to 1-12) and Mayo (2-10 to 1-12) secured semi-final qualification before they again defeated the Yeats County (0-14 to 0-12).
Inspiration from 2022
As well as booking a provincial final place, that latter result sealed Galway's place in the All-Ireland series. It's effectively a new competition from here and nobody in their camp will need reminding that a provincial final loss doesn't have to be a show stopper. Defeated twice by Mayo, and once by Leitrim, Galway lost three times in provincial combat in 2022 yet hit on a rich vein of form thereafter to turn over Dublin, Derry and Mayo, in the ultimate revenge, to collect the Tom Markham Cup.
Galway go into this weekend as underdogs. No county has built more underage momentum this decade than Tyrone and their U-20s were only denied a third All-Ireland title in-a-row, and a fourth in five attempts, with Saturday's final loss to Kerry. At minor level, they have put Ulsters back-to-back after Friday's victory over Derry. Goals in either half from Conan Canavan - nephew of the great Peter Canavan - and Logan O’Connor proved decisive along with a dominant third quarter (2-16 to 1-12).
Gerard Donnelly's side were put to the pin of their collar at the last four stage when overturning an 11-point deficit to defeat Cavan (1-18 to 3-10). Armagh (1-16 to 0-10) and Monaghan (3-16 to 0-18) were overcome by Tyrone in the group phase.
Another subplot is the respective schedules of the teams. This will be Tyrone's third fixture in just 15 days having only played twice competitively before that. Galway, in contrast, are returning to action for the first time in 29 days since their loss to Roscommon. Cossie Gilmore's side played six matches in a seven-week spell prior to that. Time will tell if such a contrasting programme of fixtures leads to being battle-hardened, fatigued, refreshed or undercooked.
Galway played very well at stages this campaign but didn't manage a complete 60-minute performance in Connacht. Hit the levels reached during the second half of their provincial final at Tuam Stadium and they're in with a real shot of causing an upset against Tyrone.