TRIBE YOUTH CAN TAKE GIANT LEAP
Bradshaw backs kids after win over Farney
GARETH Bradshaw believes that Sunday’s unexpected win against Monaghan will provide Galway’s rookies with the confidence they will need when they face Kerry on Sunday week.
After taking an 11-point trimming from Dublin, Galway were rank outsiders when they travelled to Inniskeen on Sunday to take on Monaghan but secured the points to put them back in the frame to reach back-to-back Allianz League finals.
But more than the two points, Bradshaw claims it was huge for the team’s rookies, who were bruised after that Dublin hammering.
Kevin Walsh has given gametime to half a dozen rookies in Galway’s opening three games — Pádraig Cunningham, Cein Darcy, Fintan Cooney and Gearoid Armstrong had all been blooded prior to Sunday, when John Daly and Antaine Ó Laoi were handed their debuts.
Veteran Bradshaw believes it was important for the newcomers to witness the team bounce back in the most challenging of environments.
‘They really put their shoulder to the wheel and that’s all you can ask of any newcomer to the team. It’s up to the more experienced lads to guide them along the way and they worked their socks off against Monaghan and it paid dividends,’ he said.
‘It will create a lot of positives and buoyancy inside in the squad especially with the new lads and the youth we have inside in our dressing room.
‘It will give them great confidence going into the Kerry match,’ added Bradshaw,
And with home advantage in Tuam, a win against a high-flying Kingdom side would push Galway right to the front in the charge for a place in the final.
Galway did the double, in League and Championship, over Kerry last year which might mean that they have got inside the heads of the Munster men.
‘It’s hard to know that,’ said Bradshaw. ‘Kerry are a fine side traditionally and they always play good football.
‘We’ll have it all to do to turn them over but we will relish the challenge.’
And the manner in how they bounced back from that loss to Dublin — their third loss on the bounce to the champions inside 10 months — should ensure they are ready for it.
‘It’s a matter of getting the basics right,’ insisted Bradshaw.
‘No matter if you are in Croke Park, you are down in Killarney or if up are up in Inniskeen, you have got to get the basics right, your basic handling, the conversion rates, your kick-passes success rate all has to be up to standard.
‘And that was the difference against Monaghan; we were a lot better at getting the basics done than we were against Dublin.’
THE GAA’s Central Competitions Control Commitee (CCCC) will decide inside the next 24 hours if any action is to be taken against Dublin and Kerry for the post-match brawl at the end of Saturday’s Allianz League Division 1 clash in Tralee.
Video footage and referee Maurice’s Deegan’s report will be teken into account by the CCCC. Mayo and Galway were fined €4,000 each following a brawl in their League encounter last term.