When you examine Galway's path since the All-Ireland triumph of 1998, it is hard not to repeatedly turn to the "lost half" of last summer's Connacht final against Mayo. Time will render the mystery of how Galway managed to score just a single point over 35 minutes ever more inexplicable. This was a team that had redefined the boundaries of attacking football over the previous summer and, given that the side scorched Mayo for 1-9 in the opening 35 minutes, there was nothing to suggest they had fallen into a slump.

True, things had not gone smoothly for the champions; John Divilly was feeling the after-affects of a minor car crash and Gary Fahy withdrew injured on the eve of the game. Winning an All-Ireland brings inevitable turbulence in the months afterwards, and while no one paid too much heed to Galway's indifferent league form, eyebrows were raised when, in the championship, Sligo nearly caught them first day out in Markevicz Park and Galway gladly retreated with a draw.

But the manner with which they eventually relinquished their title was both inconceivable and ironic. In the 1998 All-Ireland final, with Galway free-flowing and glorious in the second half, who could have guessed that they would eventually come undone through a scoring drought? "It was just a bad day at the office," grimaces Padraig Joyce now.

"Maybe we were a small bit complacent coming out after the break. We did recognise it as a huge game but possibly Mayo had the bit of incentive behind them, there was a revenge factor there from the previous year. But it was a sickening way to lose it."

Joyce was a championship rookie when John O'Mahony guided the team on a run that began tentatively and then gained an irresistible momentum. Although Michael Donnellan's searing runs and Ja Fallon's sublime kicking skills drew much of the attention, Joyce stood alone as a true front-line marksman. He clipped 1-2 in the final, not wasting a ball.

With Killererin capturing the county championship last summer, Joyce has found himself as captain of Galway.

He acknowledges that the celebrations after the All-Ireland probably went on too long. "But the fact is that is just history now, it's for the books, doesn't count. There is just a core group left from that panel, we have new personnel in and we are just back in the pile again."

With the realisation that days at the top are finite came a return to basics: this year, they resumed in earnest their interest in the league, which provided the springboard for them in 1998.

The good results came early. "It was later on, against Cork and Dublin that cost us. We missed out on the play-offs because of that. Which maybe wasn't a bad thing when you consider it now."

More troubling than the defeats were the spate of injuries which began to torment the camp. Karl Donlon, a youngster trying to stake a claim in the defence, was forced out for the year with a cruciate ligament injury in mid-spring and since then the news has grown more dismal. From Tomas Mannion's reluctant retirement to Kevin Walsh's ongoing struggles, it seemed the worry list extended by the week. Ja Fallon's injury, just on the threshold of the championship season, typified Galway's luck.

"That Jarlath is a loss to us as a player goes without saying. But, naturally, it goes beyond that. I called him in the Sunday of the injury and then on Tuesday we spoke again and he told me he was gone for the year. I'll never forget training that night because the place was like a morgue. No one was saying a word. Ja is such a sound fella and so into the game that it was a terrible thing to happen for him. It'll be hard for him watching the Sligo game now, I'm sure of that."

But for all the absences of key players, Galway remain formidable, and Sligo will not relax any: Galway are among the favourites for the All-Ireland according to Sligo manager Mickey Moran.

Joyce is candid in his belief that there exists enough talent in the current panel to claim an All-Ireland at some stage. Nonetheless, the memories of last summer in Sligo, a claustrophobic, passionate little hotbed of a ground for visiting teams, are all too vivid. This is a new test for a new team. Joe Bergin stepping into Walsh's boots. Paul Clancy - also dogged with injury - back to take up where Ja Fallon left off.

"We are in the exact same position of Sligo, trying to get to a Connacht final. That's it. We have it all to prove again," says Joyce.