Galway sweat on absentees after powering past Kingdom

GALWAY manager Donal Ó Fatharta is waiting to see if the players who missed Saturday’s All-Ireland U-20 semi-final win against Kerry over Covid-19 issues will be available when they take on Dublin in the final next weekend.

The three Moycullen players in the squad, Paul Kelly, James McLaughlin and Daniel Cox, withdrew during the week and there were two late changes to the selected side on Saturday when wing-back Cathal Sweeney and full-forward Tomo Culhane, both Salthill/ Knocknacarra, were replaced.

Ó Fatharta said he didn’t wish to go into detail about any of the players or confirm if they were missing due to Covid-19 concerns and said it remained to be seen who would be available for the final with Dublin.

“I don’t know. It is a difficult time for families all around the country. We will have to talk to our team doctor Eoin McDonagh, he is dealing with that. What I can say is that we followed everything rigidly before this game and will follow everything rigidly after this game. We will be guided by Eoin McDonagh, he is guiding the guys and me, it is he and the HSE who are making these decisions and not me. We will be guided by that, it takes the pressure off me because I don’t have to make these decisions,” he said.

He was pleased with the display produced by his men against a Kerry team who also had Covid19 issues, with four players replaced, while on the field they lost two more to injury and had a couple of black cards.

SCORERS – Galway: M Tierney 0-6 (5f, 1m); M Cooley 0-4 (3f); C Monahan 1-1; C Hernon, O Gormley, N Grainger, P Kelly (f) 0-1 each. Kerry: D Uosis (2f, 1 ’45), E Horan 0-3 each; R Ó Beaglaoich 1-0; P Walsh 0-2; S Keane, D Geaney 0-1 each.

GALWAY – C Flaherty, J McGrath, S Fitzgerald, J Glynn, C Monahan, T Gill, J Kirranne, C Raftery, C Hernon, A Greene, M Tierney, R Monahan, P Kelly, O Gormley, M Cooley. Subs: E Mannion for Gormley (45), J Reilly for Greene (54), N Grainger for Tierney (58),

M Geraghty for Cooley (62).

KERRY – D Uosis, O Fitzgerald, A Dineen, J McCarthy, L Brosnan, D Casey, S O’Brien, S O’Connell, M O’Gara, S Keane, E Horan, K Falvey, P Walsh, S Horan, R Ó Beaglaoich. Subs: D Geaney for Walsh (h-t), J Kennelly for Casey (35), C Hayes for Keane (49), D Mangan for Falvey (54), D Lynch for S Horan (57).

REF – B Tiernan (Dublin).

Kerry’s Deividas Uosis battles Galway’s Cian Monahan Galway’s new midfield pairing of Cian Hernon and Conor Raftery were superb. It was the same with Kerry. Two of their late changes accounted for 0-6, with Eddie Horan kicking three points from play, while their Lithuanian-born goalkeeper Deividas Uosis, who will soon head to Brisbane Lions, landed three placed balls and made a couple of excellent saves. “I have been involved at this level before and there isn’t much difference I think between guys who are starting and guys who are outside of the 24,” added Ó Fatharta. “It is different to minor level, the pool of players is bigger. You are picking from three minor teams and it showed out there. “These are good players. Cian (Hernon) would have been in at minor, he had a super year with Bearna this year. Patrick Kelly, the same with Mountbellew, and we said that to them, ‘what’s the difference’? These guys have been playing well.” Kerry led by 1-7 to 1-5 at the break having played with the breeze, with Ruaidhri Ó Beaglaoich hitting the net after 27 minutes after Galway’s Cian Monahan had netted. They were level six times before Galway pulled away in the last quarter. “Whenever do you prepare for an All-Ireland semi-final and lose four fellas who are fully fit from a squad? But then Galway had the same scenario,” said Kerry boss John Sugrue.