Hard-working Galway find a way

Signs, on a day of Biblical misery in Castlebar, that the grand old days of provincial epics no longer pull on people's hearts. Maybe it was the driving rain or the lure of the devil's game out in the Orient but for whatever reason, the GAA's western showpiece took in lousy gate receipts.

A championship final between the finest exponents of the modern game and a skilful and ambitious Sligo team ought to have been an attractive draw but there was a wintry and careworn look to yesterday's occasion. Perhaps the GAA takes its punters for granted. It felt like the kind of game you turn up for only to find the groundsman has forgotten to unlock the gates.

Perhaps this is an early indication that the corrosive affect that some foresaw in the novel qualifying system will, in the not too distant future, prove prophetic. This, remember, is a golden age for Gaelic Games in the lonely province. What of future Connacht finals when Galway endure another fallow patch and when Sligo do not have breakthrough days in Croke Park to warm their souls?

This was the usual Galway story. The All-Ireland champions won almost in spite of their panache. It is often overlooked that for the acclaimed Brazilian streak to their style, Galway work like demons and are incredibly adaptable. Shoot-outs, low scoring chess games or yesterday's sleeves-up-in-the-rainstorm, it's all the one to them. Galway set about it and found a way. Sligo were honest and, for a period in the second half, excellent in this match. They simply didn't have quite enough.

As Roscommon found out earlier in this campaign, the All-Ireland champions have a habit of flooring you just when you begin to enjoy life in their presence. After half an hour and playing into one of those ferocious wind/rain gales that can actually sap your will to live, let alone play football, they were just three points down, 0-6 to 0-3.

Had they made it to the dressing room for Bovril on that score line, Sligo would have been favourites for the second half. Instead, Padhraic Joyce ghosted in behind Mark Cosgrove, took a pass and was grabbed by Sligo's Neil Carew in a manner that you only ever see during the last slow dance at a country nightclub. Derek Savage nailed the penalty with such poise and grace that you again had to wonder about soccer players. Just before the whistle, Savage found time to squeeze over another point and suddenly Sligo were facing a troublesome deficit.

The penalty remained more or less the dividing factor and the move that led to it said much about the game. Padhraic Joyce was again Galway's most lethal threat but he was admirably shadowed by Cosgrove, who will be furious with himself for letting the Killerin man drift blind-side of him. And the move was made by the other Joyce, who played a sublime, straight ball for his brother. The play had a telepathic element to it and was one of many brilliant contributions from the less heralded Joyce.

Operating in the roving midfield role that was so effective last season, Tommy Joyce led the terrific Galway work-rate. All-Star Kieran Fitzgerald was utterly accomplished in what was a very strong defensive effort. Sligo managed their first point from play in the 51st minute, testimony to the suffocating, hungry efforts of their opponents.

That score, however, inspired Peter Ford's Sligo to at least go down with a bit of flair. Eamon O'Hara had come into his own at centre-field and struck a wonderful point from the blue that raised the black-and-white flags. David Durkin came off the bench and quickly fired two gorgeous scores and then Dessie Sloyan landed a point from distance to reduce the margin to that converted penalty.

Time, as Ford observed later, simply ran out on Sligo. They were the coming team, with Galway failing to register a score from the 53rd minute to the close. That is not to say, however, that if the champions desperately needed a score, they would not have worked it.

It was, however, a strong contrast to Galway's habit of last year, when they tended to finish strongly. Yesterday, they began brightly and cheerfully despite the gloomy day and rolled into a 0-5 to 0-0 lead after 17 minutes. Thoughts of the humiliation in Markievicz Park two years ago may have begun to cross the minds of the Sligo fans. But this team has a bit of steel about it and frees from Sloyan and Gerry McGowan put them back on the radar.

With Brendan Phillips, Padraig Doohan and Paul Durcan working flat out, Sligo began to compose with invention. After 21 minutes, a heroic run by O'Hara forced an equal response from Gary Fahey and Tomas Mannion, who blocked his low shot.

It was one of the few occasions that Sligo's forwards had space enough to even attempt a shot on goal. Their wide tally finished at just four, further evidence of Galway's defensive frugality.

Sligo's failure to come out running after half time cost them dearly and when they did eventually hit a groove, they had too much to do. Even though the sense of contest lifted the atmosphere in the closing minutes, Galway never looked seriously threatened. The old order is secure in the west but nobody is counting titles anymore.

GALWAY: 1 A Keane; 2 K Fitzgerald, 3 G Fahey, 4 R Fahey; 5 D Meehan, 6 T Mannion, 7 S De Paor; 8 K Walsh, 9 M Donnellan; 10 P Clancy, 11 T Joyce, 12 J Bergin; 13 D Savage, 14 P Joyce, 15 M Clancy. Subs: J Fallon for J Bergin (64 mins).

SLIGO: 1 J Curran; 4 N Carew, 2 M Cosgrove, 7 B Phillips; 5 P Doohan, 6 M Langan, 3 P Naughton; 8 E O'Hara, 9 P Durcan; 12 B Walsh, 14 M Brehony, 11 S Davey; 10 T Brennan, 13 D Sloyan, 15 G McGowan. Subs: D McGarty for T Brennan (41 mins), J McPartland for S Davey (43), K Quinn for B Walsh ( 50), D Durkin for M Langan (55). Booked: N Carew (33 mins); M Cosgrove (38)