A Mayo man with a soft spot for Galway Some months ago when the country's bookmakers posted the odds for a single county to complete the double for 2005 i.e. All Ireland champions in senior hurling and football, the numbers were both generous and a little fanciful. After all nobody does the double these days-heck, no county can even retain their championship from a previous September. Galway and Cork remained the only two powers capable of such a feat, yet the possibility of it happening was slim and none. Well, these are strange times and the teams just mentioned have made it to the final round of the small ball championship. With the Galway footballers biting the dust at the quarter-final stage only Cork remained standing for this elusive of doubles. Of course they were the last county to pull it off and as befits a county of their playing population. Teddy McCarthy was in his prime then but no such player can afford the time and commitment needed to be a modern dual star at the highest level, with your eyes on a Guinness and Bank of Ireland double. Cork took the final curtain against Kerry and the footballers of both counties saved the turf accountants. I often think the supporters of Gaelic games in Galway are spoiled for choice. No sooner do the footballers depart the stage than the hurlers shock the country by eliminating the great Kilkenny team of the last six years or so. Both hurling semi finals will go down as examples of all that is good with the national game. The idea of a Galway versus Clare final existed for a spell also so the game is hardly at the low ebb many are saying. What a pairing that would have made in these days of Cork-Kilkenny dominance. As mentioned before in this column I have a soft spot for Galway hurling. My family hail from those parts and at a time when football out west was in the doldrums - the 80s, they brightened up the September landscape. And Galway once again prove a theory that I have long held - if senior honours are ever to be won, there must be a vibrant underage system to support the cause. In the case of the Tribesmen they have had to wait longer than most and indeed it might take Sherlock Holmes to solve that particular mystery. But it appears they are getting there. Youth, pace and raw enthusiasm won out when they faced the favourites from Kilkenny. And not a little skill was in evidence too. The previous week we witnessed what is meant by the words 'True Champions' - Cork, with their title on the line and skidding out on a long stretch of Clare black ice, were gulping hard. The game looked to be going away from them as The Banner choked the life out of them. Perhaps the game was gone from them but the knife was not buried deep. From an impossible situation Cork rose to their full height and a flurry of superb points gave them the lead just as the referee checked his watch. Yes, true champions. Galway showed some character also - twice they stretched their legs for home and on both occasions Kilkenny caught up. If The Cats had snatched a late equaliser I felt all the youth policies in the world would not save Galway from a decade of despair. And it is great to see decent and considered managers like John Allen and Conor Hayes have their day in the sunshine. I have been struck by their humility and informed responses at a time when they had plenty of ammunition to fill their guns. No gloating, no whinging, and no 'I told you so' - no daggers for the doubting media, just a sense that the day was won in a tight finish when a little luck might have witnessed the opposition win the day. Can Galway win it this time? Of course they can and when you consider the county has a poor record against Cork in finals you have to trust the manager on this when he says: 'This team has never played this Cork team in a final' True indeed and furthermore there has not been too many finals between them anyhow. But Galway will have it all to do as the current champions are a hardened and experienced squad, well used to pressure situations as they demonstrated against Clare. Household names abound - a fantastic half back line and a pretty good full line too. The best defence in hurling in all of Ireland? Guess so. After that the names are not as box office but decent all the same and very efficient - their version of 'football hurling' where we see short passing by hand to the supporting player is well developed and the only method of stopping it will be the Clare in your face tackling from first ball until last. Clare showed the way but did not have the legs to execute their plan completely - Galway are young and pacy and full of running- it might be enough. Full tanks of oxygen are a good starting point for the wide open spaces of HQ. Galway are not as well known but are certainly in a position to capture the national viewers with their brand of exciting hurling. They are sure to give it stacks and I am looking forward to players I witnessed at underage such as Hayes, Murray, Farragher and Regan give it stacks. And the great democracy that Gaelic games always are will once again be on show. My old football coach, Tony 'The Horse' Regan (No, he was not a Mafia hit man, but his training techniques would have helped with the transition to one!) comes from a small town land just outside Roscommon town called Oran. It is one of the last outposts of hurling in the county and now after decades of spreading the football gospel in the west, he has the great honour of watching his son attempt to win a hurling Celtic cross. It has the makings of a classic. For the neutrals, sit back, relax and enjoy the spectacle. I'm rooting for Galway - whenever their hurlers are strong their footballers take back seat - good news then on both fronts for a Mayo man! The late Sean Purcell The news that Sean Purcell had passed quietly from this life came as a shock to the followers of GAA matters everywhere. I knew he had been unwell - his great pal Jim Carney kept me updated with regular bulletins, but I still expected him to pull through. 'The Master', we believed, was indestructible. I was very fond of Sean - my late father played with him during the Tuam Stars dominance of the 50s and he always spoke so highly of him. In the opinion of Tuam football people and many beyond this hotbed of Galway football, there was simply nobody to touch him. He was an extremely versatile player and for a man who could hold down defensive positions his scoring numbers when playing up front was simply outstanding. I met him during my time in St. Jarlaths and thereafter at Galway/Mayo games. I remember losing the 1984 final in Salthill and being particularly downcast. We met afterwards and though obviously delighted his native Galway had won the day he took the time he reassure me of better days ahead. He was such a modest man - I cannot ever recall him talk of his personal achievements and they were many. No, football was about the here and now and what the next generation produced. He was such easy, quiet, lovely company and he will be terribly missed by the GAA world, his circle in Tuam and most of all by his lovely family. No words of mine will comfort his grieving family and I can only offer my deepest sympathies to them at this sad, sad news. Tweet

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