Galway manager John O'Mahony enhanced his reputation for shrewdness on the line yesterday with a plethora of switches that, for the most part, worked a treat. Most of them were born out of necessity - particularly in the first half when his players were getting a trimming - but the success of his switches caught our eye.
His team lined out as selected, but were soon in trouble. With centrefield in difficulty and the half-lines picking up few breaks, O'Mahony's first move was to bring Paul Clancy in from wing forward to the centre in a switch with Tommy Joyce after a mere 10 minutes. There was no noticeable change, so the obvious move followed - Kevin Walsh was introduced to centrefield in place of Joe Bergin after a mere 19 minutes. Walsh unquestionably had a steadying influence and he also contributed a point from play.
It was probably gone past time for something to be done about Ray Silke's difficulty in the left corner where Michael Francis Russell was making early hay, buy O'Mahony finally moved, switching Tomas Meehan over while Silke went to mark John Crowley.
The next switch, after 25 minutes, proved most significant. Padraig Joyce was moved out from full forward to the centre, Clancy moving in to the edge of the square on Seamus Moynihan. In the 10 minutes that followed, with captain Joyce at the centre of things and Clancy giving the Kerry captain his few uncomfortable moments of the afternoon, Galway reduced a seven-point deficit to get within three points by half-time.
Joyce's role during these 10 minutes is worth examining closely. Immediately, he went on a run, was fouled and converted a free. Two minutes later he intercepted a Mike Hassett pass, went on a run, was fouled and Niall Finnegan pointed from the free. From the subsequent kickout he gathered and offloaded to Derek Savage, who pointed. In the 34th minute, Joyce carried on a move started by Sean Og de Paor by passing to Michael Donnellan. The roving forward was fouled and Joyce pointed.
After the break, when Kerry came out and tagged on two unanswered points, it was time to move on the Silke problem. In the 41st minute the captain of '98 was pulled off and replaced by Richie Fahey, who stabilised the situation, albeit with the tide turning in Galway's favour. O'Mahony kept trying out things, though, even when his team was on the up. Niall Finnegan did a stint at full forward (generally unsuccessful), while John Donnellan was introduced at left corner forward with Tommy Joyce replaced. Quote of the day: 'I suppose we'll bot know each other a little better the next day,' - Paidi O Se.
