Galway senior footballers make the trip across the Atlantic to kickstart their Connacht Football Championship campaign. They take on New York at a sold out Gaelic Park in the Bronx with throw-in at 8pm on Sunday, April 6.
It is that time of year again. The quest to retain the Connacht title and avenge last year's All-Ireland final defeat begins in New York with the winner advancing to the semi-final of the Connacht championship. The winner of this tie will take on whoever comes out on top between Roscommon and London on April 5.
Despite just missing out on the Allianz Football League final, Galway will be feeling confident after some impressive showings in the league. Pádraig Joyce's men have adapted to the new rules seamlessly, their two-point scoring has been exceptional.
But Joyce's men will have to put the loss to Kerry two weeks ago at Pearse Stadium behind them. Kerry ran out 3-24 to 2-19 victors to book their place in the Division 1 final against Mayo at Croke Park, which they won last weekend. Galway had been the league leaders boasting an unbeaten record up until the last two games against Dublin and Kerry.
The fixture in Salthill was hard fought affair but Kerry were always in control of proceedings, with Galway unable to mount a comeback. The Kingdom went into half-time with a 2-11 to 1-10 advantage. Two points from Paul Geaney and one from Dylan Casey pushed the Kerry lead out to seven points four minutes after the restart before Comer and Finnerty responded for Galway. The closest they got to Kerry was one point after a Matthew Tierney goal and Johnny Heaney followed.
However, Kerry outscored the home side by 0-4 to 0-1 in the next ten minutes and they pushed on from there in the final quarter with Damien Bourke fisting home their third goal nine minutes from time.
All focus now switches to the Connacht Football Championships. Pádraig Joyce's side will hope their trip to the Big Apple is the start of a journey that culminates with claiming Sam Maguire in July.
