REFRESHED TRIBE TAKE SECOND CHANCE
GALWAY manager Kevin Walsh is thrilled his men made the most of their second chance in the Championship this year. Last term they bowed out at the quarter-final stage to Tipperary and the previous summer Donegal sent them packing in the last 12, so this is the first time they got a second opportunity on Walsh’s watch. ‘Last year we had to carry that defeat to Tipperary for the winter. There’s two ways of going when you get the second chance, bounce back with character or fade away,’ said Walsh. For now, they have bounced back, dismantling a dismal Donegal team to set up a crack at Kerry in Croke Park on Sunday. Walsh’s biggest task at a wet Markievicz Park was to dampen celebrations and expectations. ‘We are not going to be in there in the dressing room clapping each other on the back. We only have a number of days to get ready. We will enjoy this for the next two hours and get back to the job at hand,’ said the double All-Ireland winner. They had the job done by half-time when they led 3-9 to 0-7, with Johnny Heaney plundering two goals and Liam Silke dispatching a penalty after goalkeeper Mark Anthony McGinley was black-carded for tripping Tom Flynn. Sub Danny Cummins got Galway’s fourth goal in stoppage time, by which stage recalled goalkeeper Bernard Power had saved a penalty and a rebound from Paddy McBrearty. Galway lost Heaney to a second yellow during a contest in which Michael Meehan made his Championship return after four years battling with an ankle injury. Donegal, who were down to 13 men after 48 minutes when captain Michael Murphy and Martin McElhinney were blackcarded, with all subs used, face an uncertain future and manager Rory Gallagher knows his head could be on the block after three years in charge. ‘Whatever comes, comes. I am around long enough, that’s the nature of it. All I will say [is] I am disappointed with today. ‘From day one we were carrying a huge panel. We took in a lot of fellas that were Under 21. We know there is going to be a huge turnover, in the last couple of years it started gradually. ‘The reality is you can’t continue to play for Donegal from 2003, ’04 and still be playing 2017, ’18, it’s not easy,’ he said. GALWAY: B Power; E Kerin, D Kyne, C Sweeney (D Wynne 59 BC); G O’Donnell (C McDaid 72), G Bradshaw (D Walsh 72), L Silke; P Conroy, T Flynn; J Heaney, M Daly (D Cummins 63), S Armstrong; I Burke, D Comer (M Meehan 68), S Walsh (E Brannigan 60). Scorers: J Heaney 2-2, S Armstrong 0-6 (4f), L Silke (pen), D Cummins 1-0, G O’Donnell, E Brannigan 0-2, S Walsh, P Conroy, I Burke, D Comer, M Daly 0-1. Yellow cards: D Comer 35, D Kyne 51, 54. Red card: D Kyne 54. Black card: C Sweeney 58. Wides: 9 (3). Frees: 14 (6). DONEGAL: M McGinley (P Boyle 25 BC); C Ward, K Gillespie (K Lacey 36), N McGee; E Gallagher, R McHugh, P McGrath; J McGee, M Murphy; M McHugh, E McHugh, F McGlynn (M McElhinney 35); J Brennan (M Langan 35), H McFadden (C Thompson 42), P McBrearty. Scorers: P McBrearty 0-6 (2f), M Murphy 0-4 (3f, 1 45), M O’Reilly 0-2, M McElhinney, M Langan 0-1. Yellow cards: N McGee 38, J McGee 65. Black cards: M A McGinley 25, M Murphy 44, M McElhinney 48. Wides: 10 (5). Frees: 17 (8). Referee: A Nolan (Wicklow).