Galway can do themselves a big favour by batin' Mayo at Tuam Stadium next Sunday

By JIM CARNEY TUAM STADIUM next Sunday, at 2.30 â€â€ will Galway bate Mayo? It won't be for the lack of trying. That's clear from what defiant captain Finian Hanley and team manager Tomás Ó Flatharta said in post-match interviews at Páirc Esler, Newry last Sunday. Two down, five to go; and Galway and Mayo are both at the wrong end of the Division 1 table. Galway have lost to Monaghan and Down, while Mayo drew with Down first time out and lost to Kerry last Sunday, both of those games at McHale Park, Castlebar. This will be Galway's first home League game, and they'll have a break the following weekend before playing Kerry at Tralee on Sunday March 13th, the day Mayo have their third home fixture, vs Armagh at Castlebar. After that, Galway will be at home to Cork, at Pearse Stadium on March 20th; away to Armagh on April 3rd and at home to Dublin on April 10th, at Pearse Stadium. So, there's a lot at stake these days for Galway and Mayo, and most football followers looking forward to next Sunday's renewal of traditional western rivalry will be glad Tuam Stadium is the venue; Galway vs Mayo in Tuam has always been very special, although on this occasion it will lose at least some of its appeal â€â€ the big rugby match on live TV, Ireland vs Scotland, is a major counter-attraction, just as Ireland vs France kept many people away from Galway vs Wexford in the N.H.L. a few weeks ago. It would be next to impossible to see Galway surviving in the premier division of the National Football League if they have to go to Kerry looking for their first win. They simply must beat Mayo next Sunday, and they might, but what the 'camp' are saying in one voice, that they're taking it one day at a time, seeking to improve each day they go out, isn't convincing and indeed it's only adding to the doom and gloom in the air. Making a plea for patience, as Finian Hanley did, and Tomás Ó Flatharta's comments about the panel's commitment and spirit are admirable in their own way, showing that they do care, but it won't improve midfield; it won't stop players giving the ball away cheaply, and it won't be enough to keep a proud, once-great county at or near the top of the football tree. In fairness, Galway are currently under-strength and in particular they badly miss Padraic Joyce and Michael Meehan, but all counties are similarly hit â€â€ Mayo, for instance, could have up to nine absentees the next day. Tomás Ó Flatharta also makes sense when he points out that it's early in the year and there are no short cuts. I agree with that, and this is 'only' the National League, it's not the true test of a team's credentials and ambition, the Championship; but in all the circumstances now, and tense atmosphere, next Sunday the captain and his Galway team must do their talking on the pitch. There has been some wild criticism of columnist Ray Silke in the past week â€â€ a little like what Colm O'Rourke got a few times in Meath â€â€ but 'Silkey' is only calling it as he sees it; in other words, he's only offering his honest opinion. In his own playing days, he was not only a successful footballer, with the medals to prove it, for club and county, but he was a leader, and a great leader. It's up to others to show leadership now. Shooting the messenger won't prevent the castle walls being attacked. Like Mayo, Galway are struggling to get their injured players back. Padraic Joyce is training with the county squad but isn't ready to resume, while it's reported that Michael Meehan will miss all of the League. Diarmuid Blake and Joe Bergin came back last Sunday, and Darren Mullahy may be back soon. Goalkeeper Adrian Faherty and Gareth Bradshaw didn't tog out in Newry, requiring treatment after playing in the Sigerson Cup last Thursday. Also back in the county colours was Paul Conroy, club-tied with St James's in the All-Ireland Intermediate Championship while the first two rounds of the N.F.L. were being played, but his clubmate Eoin Concannon was not in the Galway team last Sunday. Mayo's walking wounded include goalkeeper David Clarke, defenders Chris Barrett, Trevor Howley and Donal Vaughan, midfielder Séamus O'Shea and forwards Alan Freeman, Enda Varley and Neal Douglas. Experienced corner-back Keith Higgins is in Australia, but he will be back for the Connacht Championship. By all accounts, Mayo played quite well in Castlebar against Kerry, leading 0-8 to 0-7 before the visitors hit a late 1-2 (including a controversial penalty goal) to win 1-9â€Â¨ to 0-8.â€Â¨ It was 0-5 apiece at half-time. Mayo's new manager James Horan was particularly pleased with the displays given by his full-back line of Tom Cunniffe and the two Feeney brothers (sons of the late Ger) against a Kerry full-forward line which had Colm 'Gooch' Cooper and Kieran Donaghy, while others to get good reports from Mayo followers were wing-backs Peadar Gardiner and Kevin McLoughlin, midfielders Jason Gibbons and Ronan McGarrity (with Tom Parsons on standby duty for this key area), and the two experienced players in the half-forward line, captain Alan Dillon and vice-captain Andy Moran. IT will add a little spice to next Sunday's clash that Mayo scored a big win over Galway in the corresponding fixture last year, at Castlebar on February 7th: 2-14 to 1-10. Galway, to their credit, bounced back from that defeat to beat Monaghan at Pearse Stadium, while Mayo went all the way to the League final against Cork at Croke Park but were routed 1-17 to 0-12. The footb all year would end badly for the Galway and Mayo managers, both high-profile figures, Joe Kernan and John O'Mahony. Interestingly, it's the 10th anniversary year of Galway vs Mayo in the National League final. At Croke Park on Sunday April 29th, 2001 an attendance of 22,623 witnessed a well-contested, exciting game which Mayo won by the minimum margin, 0-13 to 0-12. It was Mayo's eleventh N.F.L. title, and the Green and Red remain on eleven in the Roll of Honour, second to Kerry's 19 League titles. Mayo's victories were recorded in 1934, â€Ëœ35, â€Ëœ36, â€Ëœ37, â€Ëœ38, â€Ëœ39, â€Ëœ41, â€Ëœ49, â€Ëœ54, â€Ëœ70, 2001. Galway's four victories came in 1940, â€Ëœ57, â€Ëœ6 5, '81. It was the first all-Connacht League final since 1981, when Galway defeated Roscommon. Remarkably, the 2001 semi-finals were also all-Connacht: Mayo defeated Roscommon and Galway defeated Sligo.