Galway can improve

There has been a tendency to place the achievements of Sligo and Laois in securing draws against better-fancied teams on a par. Yet any close analysis of the matches indicates that this is not true. Without previewing the Leinster replay, it should be pointed out that Laois gave Dublin a six-point start and were fairly robbed not to win the match as two of Dublin's points were questionable.

Tomorrow's Connacht semi-final replay in Tuam is a different story. Sligo were steeped to get the draw after being outplayed to the extent they were. This isn't to suggest that there was much admirable about Galway's performance but it did suggest a team still in the process of going up the gears.

Apart from the massive scare of nearly going out, Galway's manager John O'Mahony will have been most concerned about his defence. Starting at the very back, goalkeeper Martin McNamara is showing the signs of having missed so much training.

Overweight and not nearly in the shape he enjoyed last year, it was only to be expected that his confidence would have been affected. So it proved with the first Sligo goal in particular. With at least one of the others, he was let down by his defence and would appear in need of a good performance to restore his equilibrium.

Elsewhere Galway were self-contained without approaching their best. In fairness to Sligo, they were acknowledged to have played badly by their own standards and in the circumstances played well to raise their game in the second half, particularly at centre-field where Paul Durcan and substituite Con O'Meara made a big impact.

The question which always sums up replays is which team can improve more. It is easy enough to answer. Galway have already strengthened their line-up by starting Ja Fallon on the wing after an ankle injury sustained between dressingroom and pitch restricted him to a substitute's role last week.

Paul Clancy's wing play has underlined the generally neglected fact that he was a major loss in last year's All-Ireland series even though the team pulled through without him. His inclusion this weekend is a bit puzzling as he hasn't been able to train fully yet Niall Finnegan who has been training is left out as a precaution.

If Galway improve, it's hard to see Sligo staying with them. This is the third time in five years the counties have needed a second meeting to separate them but Galway have managed comfortably on the previous two occasions.

Winning won't be enough to satisfy Galway. O'Mahony will want to see a major improvement in concentration levels at the back and greater urgency in the attack. No-one could reasonably expect the All-Ireland champions to be firing on all cylinders just yet but some progress will be necessary if they are to face the provincial final with confidence.

GALWAY - M McNamara; T Meehan, G Fahy, T Mannion; R Silke, J Divilly, S de Paor; K Walsh, S O Domhnaill; P Clancy, M Donnellan, J Fallon; D Savage, P Joyce, J Donnellan.

SLIGO - P Walsh; J Joyce, C White, M Cosgrove; N McGuire, N Clancy, R Keane; P Durcan, E O'Hara; B Walsh, P Taylor, K Killeen; J McPartland, S Flannery, AN Other.