Away to Armagh — more pressure on Galway

By JIM CARNEY TWO to go for Galway footballers: away to Armagh next Sunday (April 3rd) and in the concluding Round 7 on Sunday week a home clash with Dublin at Pearse Stadium. Five rounds played already, and no League points after successive defeats by Monaghan, Mayo, Down, Kerry and Cork.[private] It must be pointed out though, that relegation is not Galway's certain fate. They may be point-less at the bottom of the Division 1 table but there are four points to be fought for in the next two Sundays and three other counties are also in the drop-zone: Monaghan (2 points), Mayo (3) and Armagh (4). At the end of the League campaign, two counties will be relegated to Division Two, which in recent years is also fiercely competitive. So, Galway musn't give up yet. If they win at the Athletic Grounds, Armagh city next Sunday and depending on how Mayo fare at home to Cork in Castlebar and Monaghan away to Kerry, it could be all to play for a week later. It's unrealistic to expect Monaghan to win down in Kerry next Sunday and, interestingly, Monaghan will be at home to Mayo in the final round. With two counties to be relegated, there could be as much pressure on Mayo as on Galway and Monaghan if Mayo lose to Cork on Sunday â€â€ but all that would only kick-in if Galway beat Armagh. Even then, they would need to beat Dublin in the final round and hope that other results go their way if they are escape the drop. It'll be a tall order, both days. Armagh were not good enough to hold off Kerry last time out, even with home advantage, but they didn't have their Crossmaglen players back after their St Patrick's Day heroics at Croke Park against St Brigid's of Roscommon, and Kerry are playing great football in this League, so the result wasn't a surprise. Now, with the return of key players such as Aaron Kernan and Jamie Clarke of Crossmaglen Rangers, and again playing at home, Armagh, a big, physically powerful team, will be odds-on favourites to beat Galway. Remember that amazing League victory by Galway over Armagh at Pearse Stadium in February 2007? Armagh had led at half-time by 0-6 to no score! In the second half, inspired by the brilliance of the talismanic Padraic Joyce, Galway hit ten points and the visitors, under the management of Joe Kernan, scored only two more points in reply, so it finished 0-10 to 0-8 in favour of Galway. A year earlier, Armagh had won the corresponding fixture at Crossmaglen by 3-14 to 2-7. There is a danger of a similar outcome next Sunday at the Athletic Grounds, a superb venue now, but it's up to Galway to prevent that happening. I find it astonishing that so many followers of football in this county, and even some of my colleagues in the local media, are of the view that this Galway team would be better off in Div. 2 of the National League. In theory that's considered acceptable because it would take a struggling team away from facing so many of the big guns, but the problem with life in Div. 2 is that it's so dangerously close to Div. 3. No wonder they're worried in Meath these days â€â€ a big name anchored, with Antrim, at the bottom of the Div. 2 table, both having won only once in five outings. Kevin Walsh and Sligo are one point better off there, with a win and a draw, while the table-toppers are Donegal on eight points, with Kildare second on seven points. Galway earned dubious credit for their so-called 'plucky' performance in defeat last time out, running the All-Ireland champions and League title-holders Cork to three points (0-16 to 0-13), but I share the views expressed by Colm O'Rourke about the decline of his own county, Meath, as he wrote in his Sunday Independent column last weekend: 'You are clutching at straws when you look for consolation in defeat. Men of substance respond to adversity and it would be very disappointing not to see everyone put their shoulder to the wheel. Even if the level of effort was good â€Â¦ that's not something that should be applauded; that is the very minimum expected when putting on a County jersey.' The Galway management team (Tomás Ó Flatharta, Seán Óg de Paor and Martin McNamara) know well that Cork were under-strength and under-performing at Pearse Stadium last Sunday week. Cork may reach the League final again, but it's hardly of much interest to them. Keeping the 'Sam' for another twelve months is all that counts on Leeside this year. Also, in the rush to praise the Galway effort the last day, little attention was paid to Galway's poor scoring return in the second half with the wind: 0-4. That would need to be a lot more in Armagh next Sunday, especially with Steven McDonnell operating at the other end of the field. 'Stevie from Killeavy', as they call him in the North, is one of the truly great modern-day forwards, the Peter Canavan or Padraic Joyce of Armagh; he's the current captain, and his appetite is as keen as ever. And from what we've seen of him in match highlights on TV this season, he has lost none of his catching and kicking ability, for which he's renowned. As a glance at the results (below) reveals, Galway have scored only one goal (by a wing-back, Gary O'Donnell) in this League campaign, in five matches. As Martin Breheny noted in the Irish Independent last week, even Kilkenny â€â€ alleged to be the worst football team in Ireland â€â€ had scored five goals by then (admittedly in Div. 4), and they got another goal last Saturday, against Fermanagh. Galway's results to date: Monaghan 0-19 Galway 0-14; Down 2-11 Galway 1-9; Mayo 2-14 Galway 0-12;â€Â¨ Kerry 0-16 Galway 0-8; Cork 0-16 Galway 0-13. [/private]