Coincidentally, I remember during KW last league campaign as Galway manager we were short midfielders for nearly the entire campaign. I think he referred to it as "torture" at one stage.
Not overly concerned with today. Backs will get sharper as season goes on. Connacht final will still be a kick of the ball between both teams. Ros, Monaghan and Donegal look like they could be the most winnable games, if Donegal pull the handbrake like they did last year. Otherwise, we may need a draw or a win against Armagh Saturday.

gaillimhboy (Galway) - Posts: 397 - 25/01/2026 21:39:55    2653198

Happy with the new lads today, McDonagh x2, Mulhearn, O'Laoi and Shay on introduction did well all things considered.

Discipline cost us along with all those goal chances!!!! A good spread of players to come back. We will be alright.

ahsure. (Galway) - Posts: 1751 - 25/01/2026 21:43:02    2653200

Just watching back the goal chances Molloy finnerty and DOF tried to burst the ball shooting mulhern was under a bit more pressure getting shot off

A side footed roller is so much better as with McGrath Beirne Mcdonagh goals

Agree mchugh was good even when going was tough

Watching game back finnerty was excellent great option all game

jm25 (Galway) - Posts: 1904 - 25/01/2026 21:43:23    2653201

WonTon5 (Galway) - Posts: 117 - 25/01/2026 22:40:28    2653218

Don't know what to make out of that game, Mayo clearly the fitter team with the most work done but Galway could easily have got at least a draw out of the game.

Little defending in the contest and only poor shooting and decision making prevented a even bigger score for both teams. Moving swiftly on to the next game where the aim is to avoid relegation now.

Drax_the_destroyer (UK) - Posts: 668 - 25/01/2026 23:26:12    2653224

S1234 (Mayo) - Posts: 725 - 26/01/2026 00:53:51    2653233

It's only January. It's only the league. They did what they could but a lot of lessons learned. Some height in midfield and a 2 point scorer would have made a big difference. Cooke is a massive loss. Joyce made this choice himself weeks ago he stated if Peter was to continue to work in London then he wouldn't be part of the galway panel, that's from Joyce's own mouth so if Peter said he was willing to commute and train with galway (like he did last year) this wouldn't be enough for padraic.

Gearoid1998ffowaed (Galway) - Posts: 210 - 26/01/2026 01:17:12    2653237

Jonnytest (Galway) - Posts: 5 - 26/01/2026 02:24:01    2653242

11 points down in our own backyard and Moran started subbing off key players, giving us a chink of an opportunity to make a comeback. But let's face it, Galway were way off the mark. Not a good start. Cleaned in midfield and almost all breaks until McGlinchey came in. Backs very porous and gifting 2 point frees repeatedly. Forwards' goal taking ability very poor and were again lacking clear attacking plays. What's happening with our coaching? We're looking quite poorly prepared for a Div 1 campaign. We were actually being hammered until we saved some face at the end once Mayo subbed off those men. Concerning.

togoutlads (Galway) - Posts: 1115 - 26/01/2026 09:52:32    2653255

Gleeson - 5: Kickouts not good enough for this level and a desperate free taker. Flaherty needs to be looked at again if he is the next option.
McGrath - 6: Mixed the good with bad.
Fitzgerald - 6: Very uncomfortable on the ball. Still think Kelly needs to go FB.
Glynn - 7: Did ok.
O'Laoi - 7: Some engine but got injured again.
McHugh - 6: Wasn't great for the first 2 goals.
Molloy - 6: Doesn't bring much to the team going forward or defensively.
Kelly - 6: Not a midfielder but injuries dictated him playing midfield yesterday. Would prefer him FB.
Hernon - 5: No impact.
Flaherty - 6: Scored 1 point but could/should have scored 1-2. Better coming off the bench.
Mulhearn - 6: Solid debut. Poor free at the end of the first half led to Mayo 2-pointer. Looks classy.
Silke - 5: No impact going forward. Played out of position.
O McDonagh - 7: 2 great scores but poor missed free. Promising start.
Finnerty - 8: So good at times. Needs to improve his goal finishing.
F McDonagh - 9: Excellent debut. Couldn't have done much better.

Subs - 7: McGlinchey, McGrath and Barret all made a difference but Barret gave away a 2 pointer and silly black card. Walsh didn't look great.

Does anyone know who was cut from the panel after the FBD?

jobseekersbent (Galway) - Posts: 389 - 26/01/2026 10:07:39    2653259

We obviously have alot of injuries in midfield and could not win a ball or break but how does Gleeson not try to change it work a short kick out harder with arc of course but we needed to change something. Also he should be nowhere near taking a long range free 45 for us. SW has certainly bulked up over the winter from his cameo. New guns were the most positive McDonaghs & Mulhern. Worried about our defence and the goals and chances we coughed up but we also had plenty of other goal chances. Kelly struggeld and Silke is not a wing forward. Doesn get any easier with Armagh away next. A positiive league campaign would be survival and unearthing a couple of players but on yday showing 2 x McFDonaghs & Mulhern did well. I would like Flaherty to be given a chance. Do we put kelly back to 3? Silke is not a WF either. Cooke gone

Eire89 (Galway) - Posts: 459 - 26/01/2026 10:11:33    2653260

Not sure if the glass is half full or half empty after that performance. From a half full perspective there was some positive greenshoots. Fionn McDonagh is looking like he will be a starter and a top player. The other novices look like they will be decent sub options when we are back at full strength. While Mayo have as many players to come back as us, most of them are like for like,or very marginal improvements over what they had yesterday , whereas our guys coming back should give a more significant lift. Other positive was the amount of chances that we created. I cant recall us ever creating as many goal chances - i counted 10, including the 2 we scored. On the glass half empty front, we continue to make terrible mistakes all over the pitch, midfield is a shambles, and, lets be honest, Mayo were poor too and apart from a spirited enough fightback the scoreline could have been a lot worse . Summary: It could be a difficult year. Winning Connacht is still a good possibility but im afraid that the gap between the Connacht counties and the market leaders is growing.

anotheralias (Galway) - Posts: 1021 - 26/01/2026 10:20:08    2653265

Fionn McDonagh looked vastly superior yesterday than he looked versus the Roscommon champs some weeks back. Either he's improving in leaps and bounds in with the intercounty squad, or you'd have some concerns about Mayo's rearguard on yesterday's form.

Pope_Benedict (Galway) - Posts: 4520 - 26/01/2026 12:25:36    2653299

Eire89 (Galway) - Posts: 459 - 26/01/2026 12:57:50    2653314

Marooned (Galway) - Posts: 2473 - 26/01/2026 13:44:57    2653327

Gearoid1998ffowaed (Galway) - Posts: 210 - 26/01/2026 14:55:02    2653357

jm25 (Galway) - Posts: 1904 - 26/01/2026 15:09:42    2653363