Search Results for 'Padraic Joyce'

Ahead of last weekend’s All-Ireland Senior Football Championship quarter-final between Galway and Meath, my mind kept drifting — not to the famous 2001 final where Padraic Joyce’s shooting masterclass sealed victory — but to a far less memorable clash between the sides in a rain-soaked Pearse Stadium just three years ago.

The Greenhills Hotel on the Ennis Road was my destination of choice and the place was packed full of Tipperary and Galway supporters. You certainly would not have thought you were just 400 metres from the clubhouse of Na Piarsaigh – All-Ireland winners in 2016 - when the roof nearly came off the place after 14-man Dublin produced a monumental shock to unceremoniously dump the Treaty out.

Penalties. One-point wins. Late drama. Galway rarely allow their supporters a moment of comfort, the emotional swings of each game pulling fans from elation to despair and back again in a matter of minutes.

The journey home typically follows a familiar cycle of grief. First, frustration with the players. Then the management, who inevitably get dissected in post-mortems. By Enfield, the County Board is often next in line. Everyone has something to get off their chest, and the bus or car becomes a mobile therapy session.

On the balance of play, Padraic Joyce’s men probably should have lost. Somehow, they also could have won, with Derry needing a last-gasp point from Conor Doherty to keep their own season alive.

The manner in which the Galway senior hurlers have responded to their dismal championship opener against Kilkenny has stirred some optimism across the county. A professional demolition of Offaly helped steady the ship, but it is the fixtures in May - now the defining month in the provincial hurling calendar - that truly serve as the barometer for real progress.

Since his return to the helm as Galway senior hurling manager, Micheál Donoghue has been on the receiving end of four 12-point losses in just seven competitive outings - a statistic that provides an accurate summation of where his team lie in the current Liam MacCarthy food chain.

Pearse Stadium will host Galway's senior footballers as they take on Kerry in the final game of the Allianz Football League campaign where Pádraig Joyce's side have their sights set on a place in the final.