Dublin’s match with Galway in Croke Park this Saturday can propel Pádraic Joyce’s team into a second league final in three years. Along with Wexford in Division Four, the Connacht champions are one of only two unbeaten teams in the country.
The weekend’s clash is resonant, as when the counties played last June in the All-Ireland quarter-finals, Galway recorded a first championship win over Dublin since 1934. It was also the first time in 15 years that Dublin had failed to reach the semi-finals.
For a whole cohort of Dublin players, it was the earliest they had ever exited the All-Ireland championship, something their second most experienced player Ciarán Kilkenny reflected on last week.
“Yeah, you just have to adapt with it. As a sports person or anyone that’s a competitor or competing in any type of sport, when something like that happens, a big loss – for a couple of days you’re just down in the dumps and just reflecting and you’re watching over every play.
“You’re going to bed and you’re thinking about every single play. You’re watching the game again and you’re just thinking about ‘what if’, or if we didn’t turn that ball over or we didn’t do this. It’s just going around in your mind.
“That’s the beauty of sport, you never know what’s going to happen and Galway were the better team on the day.”
The counties have competed regularly in the league in recent years but Galway haven’t defeated their opponents in a league match since 2010. The counties also contested the 2018 final, the last time Dublin won the league outright. Kilkenny is an enthusiast.
“I think the league is a phenomenal competition. The buzz it brings – the games come thick and fast. Each game is competitive, there’s great discussion after each game when you’re going back to work or see your friends.
“I felt it’s been like that this year. I love playing in and, for us as a group, it’s something not to be sniffed at but we still have two games left and we just have to put in a couple of good performances.”
He acknowledges the awkward situation for Ulster counties, who have championship commitments in some cases the week after the league final is scheduled to be played and suggests a little more calendar room to facilitate their full participation.
“If we allowed a little bit of space, and they could fully commit to be competitive if they were to be in a final, I think that would be great because I think it’s a really good competition.”
Meanwhile, Galway GAA is hopeful that Tuam Stadium will be restored and available for April’s under-20 and minor championship matches. The ground was damaged last Tuesday night when vandals broke into an outhouse in the stadium and took out a mowing machine, which was driven across the pitch.
The venue had just recently been restored with the reconstruction of a stand, and hosted Galway’s drawn league match against Tyrone two weekends ago. The attendance was 7,000 and it is due to stage the county’s underage home championship fixtures in the coming weeks.
“All our home games in the under-20 and -17 football championships are due there,” says Galway chair Paul Bellew, “and they’re scheduled for a couple of weeks’ time. We’re just assessing it now and to see if we get it back to some kind of playable level for that. We’re hopeful that we can.
“If it was any wetter, we’d have been in a lot of trouble but looking at it the last day or so, we’re optimistic that it’s not as extensive as we’d feared.”
The old stand in the ground was replaced last year and the intention is to use the stadium as a default venue for the county’s underage matches. There is further work planned.
“The back part of the stand with the amenities has to be done,” says Bellew. “It’s approved for us so, we’re ready to go. The money is there. There’s a sensory room going in it and a full press area as well.”
The cost to date of €500,000 has been contributed to by the Joe O’Toole foundation, a legacy established by the late local businessman and his wife Helen.
“Between ourselves and the foundation, we’ve over half a million originally invested and then there’s another quarter of a million once we get the approval to go ahead.”
