Kerry boss Jack O’Connor said they will have a right crack off Mayo in next weekend’s Allianz League final but he’s very much viewing it as an extra game as they get set for a Championship assault.
They came into this clash at Pearse Stadium in Salthill knowing that a defeat could leave them in relegation trouble but, despite not landing a two-pointer for the second game in a row, they were still able to amass a huge score to win with ease.
“Look, it’s a big bonus for us. Despite what people think, we have a good share of players... we were counting this morning, we had five or six players starting today who weren’t on the team last year,” said O’Connor.
“Every game for those boys is a bonus. The lads love Croke Park, they love getting back there and we’ll have a game of football with Mayo. It’s not the be-all and end-all who wins it.
“It’s just an extra game, which is great, and it shortens the span. We were going to have a month to a Munster semi-final, so that shortens it by a week.
“If you offered me a point this morning I’d have taken it. That would have kept us safe and put Galway in the League final? But the game took on a life of its own. We started poorly. Galway went four up.
“There were times when we looked like we were in control of the game. I think we were seven up halfway through the second half and they got it back to two. A few unforced errors. But it was a helter-skelter game, huge scoring, so delighted to come out the right side of it.”
Three goals, two of them in the opening quarter, brought their League haul to 16 but, while O’Connor is pleased with that strike rate, the concession of goals at the other end gnaws at him.
“That’s good going in seven games,” he added. “We conceded two today, so I’d have more of a beef with that than anything else.
“Look, I’m delighted. A couple of weeks ago we were staring relegation in the face before the Armagh game. It’s a big turnaround, that’s all I say. Delighted.”
Kerry had 13 different scorers and shot just two wides — none in the second half — as they ended Galway’s hopes of reaching the League final for another year.
Galway were without the injured Shane Walsh — he had a procedure on a back issue during the week — and were chasing the game from the opening quarter when the Kingdom hit them for a couple of goals.
Kerry led by 2-11 to 1-10 at the end of the opening half with Gavin White striking the opening goal after six minutes after a good build-up down the left.
Kieran Molloy had just landed the only two-pointer of the opening half before that and a Rob Finnerty free pushed the Tribesmen 0-5 to 1-0 in front after nine minutes.
Dylan Geaney pointed and then finished another good move to the net after 11 minutes after Kerry opened the home defence with some excellent running and support play.
Dylan Geaney was denied another goal by Galway goalkeeper Connor Gleeson after the Tribesmen had found the net when Rob Finnerty finished from close range after a high ball broke off goalkeeper Shane Murphy for him.
Points from Paudie Clifford and Brian O Beaglaoich levelled the match at 2-3 to 1-6 after 14 minutes and then after Finnerty edged Galway back in front, Kerry corner-back Paul Murphy was harshly black-carded after a
collision with Damien Comer.
Kerry outscored Galway by 0-4 to 0-2 while down a man and three points in a row from David Clifford helped them lead by 2-11 to 1-10 at the interval.
Two points from Paul Geaney and one from Dylan Casey pushed the Kerry lead out to seven points four minutes after the restart before Comer and Finnerty responded for Galway.
Galway hit back with a goal from Matthew Tierney and a point from Johnny Heaney to cut the gap to a point but that was as close as Padraic Joyce’s men got as the Kingdom outscored the home side by 0-4 to 0-1 in the next ten minutes.
And they pushed on from there in the final quarter with Damien Bourke fisting home their third goal nine minutes from time.
It’s a disappointing end for a Galway side who were the only unbeaten team after the opening five rounds but successive defeats to Dublin and now Kerry leave their search for a first League title since 1981 unfulfilled for another season.
“We are very disappointed but can’t say much when we lose a game by that much,” said Galway manager Padraic Joyce. “The way the League went we were lucky to survive when you see a team relegated on seven points. Disappointing performance for us overall. We got it back to two points but just didn’t see it out.
“It’s a national title, we could do with one here. And again with the position we were in two games ago, it’s very disappointing we didn’t pick up a point in the two games to see us in a final, but so be it.”
To keep up to date with all the latest GAA news, sign-up to our GAA newsletter here.
