IF you were to sum up Galway’s recent luck in Championship seasons in a film, it would be Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, a great watch but no real happy ending for the heroes.
Galway have had great runs in the Championship in recent years even reaching a final in 2022 but losing to Kerry.
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This season started off on a bum note, with the Tribesmen finishing sixth in Division One, just two points above the relegation places.
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Joyce’s boys only managed to win against Monaghan and Tyrone and draw against Roscommon.
Going into the Championship, Galway were still favourites for the Connacht Championship but knew they faced stiff competition in Mayo.
However, this time it would be the defence that would carry this Galway side, conceding one goal so far in the Championship.
Connacht Senior Football Championship quarter-final: London 0-9 Galway 5-21
AFTER a poor National League campaign that saw Galway finish sixth in Division One, they kicked off their Championship campaign with a welcome 27-point win over London in Ruislip.
Padraic Joyce’s men opened up ran up a 0-11 to 0-3 lead after half-an-hour and shortly afterwards, they netted their first goal from Cathal Sweeney.
That saw the visitors establish a 1-15 to 0-3 half-time lead and they were to add three more quick points after the turnaround before a devastating six-minute spell saw them net four goals.
Céin D’Arcy, Paul Conroy and Tomo Culhane (two) raised the green flags to truly bury the Exiles’ hopes as the Connacht holders cantered towards the finish line.
Connacht Senior Football Championship semi-final: Sligo 0-14 Galway 1-13
THE Tribe had a lucky escape when they faced Sligo side led by Armagh All-Ireland winner Tony McEntee.
A ‘snatch-and-grab’ win if ever there was one, Robert Finnerty’s late goal proved the difference between the sides after a stellar performance from the Salthill man.
Galway racked up 11 wides, including from clear-cut goal chances for Céin Darcy, Jack McCabe and Damien Comer.
Sligo started brightly, with Darragh Cummins and Cian Lally kicking the best of the scores as they moved 0-4 to 0-0 in front.
Shane Walsh hit back with a majestic solo score, but that was the only time he escaped Evan Lyons’ tightly-locked shackles.
It fell to Finnerty to carry the Tribesmen up front, with their full back-line plugging holes while Céin Darcy added energy and drive in the middle.
Finnerty’s third point, in the first minute of the second half, cut the gap to two points, 0-9 to 0-7, and when Comer came off the bench to score with his first touch, Galway looked the more likely winners.
Instead, Alan McLoughlin, Niall Murphy and Seán Carrabine kicked big scores for Sligo, and with five minutes remaining they were three up.
Three missed chances kept Galway in the game, however, and when Kieran Molloy and Darcy pointed, Galway had four minutes of stoppage-time to find an equaliser.
They got much more than that.
Eddie McGuinness marred an excellent 70 minutes with a crucial fumble, and Comer pounced to drive at goal and start the move that ended with Finnerty palming in the winning score.
Connacht Senior Football Championship final: Galway 0-16 Mayo 0-15
Galway’s late escape antics continued into the Connacht final against Mayo, where it was goalkeeper Conor Gleeson’s turn to be the saviour for the Tribesmen.
The score was 0-15 apiece with the clock ticking down, and once David Gough decided Conor Loftus had overheld possession in the fifth minute of stoppage-time, it was all hinged on a long-range Gleeson free.
The Dunmore man wasn’t in any rush to get to the ball, but when he did it sailed over the bar..
This latest instalment in these sides’ rivalry delivered Galway’s third provincial title on the bounce.
The lead changed hands over and over but it was Mayo who looked well in control in the opening half with Kevin McStay’s side taking a two-point lead into the break.
However, Damien Comer caused all sorts of problems for the Mayo backline as Shane Walsh missed out with an injury.
Galway answered back with three consecutive scores after the break but the Westerners scored four points without reply to put the game back at their mercy.
From that point, the game really shifted up a gear and started to look more like basketball than football.
Galway scored four points of their own and Cillian O’Connor drew things level with a score worthy of winning most games, just not this one.
Mayo were two points up going into extra-time but a late Galway resurgence saw the Tribesmen level before Gleeson’s heroics meant that Galway once again lifted the Nestor Cup.
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship round-robin: Galway 2-14 Derry 0-15
Padraic Joyce’s side were handed a tough group in the All-Ireland round-robin stage, facing Ulster sides in Derry and Armagh, alongside Westmeath.
Going into this opening fixture, Galway were wary of Derry’s threat as the current League champions and beaten All-Ireland semi-finalists last year.
However, the Oak Leafers were a wounded animal, having crashed out of the Ulster Championship at the hands of a resurgent Donegal, who dispatched them with apparent ease on a 4-11 to 0-17 scoreline.
Mickey Harte’s Derry were itching to get back to winning ways, but this Galway side were looking to prove that they weren’t just escape artists, but rather serious contenders that could go far in this year’s Championship race.
Galway deserved their win in Salthill but in truth Harte’s men made life very hard for themselves.
Six scoring chances were taken out of 16 in the first half with five shots dropped short in the blustery wind.
It was Gareth McKinless’s needless red card for what the officials viewed as a stamp on Damien Comer that really tipped the scales in Galway’s favour.
Playing with 14 men is always so difficult when a side is chasing a game but even then there was only two points in it at half-time and Derry got back on terms early in the second.
However, Seán Kelly managed to capitalise on a misdirected kick-out and score a goal to stretch the Tribe’s lead again.
It could have been level once more towards the end when Shane McGuigan jumped, caught, swivelled and blasted in a shot on goal.
The Connacht final hero Connor Gleeson fisted that effort away, and Galway went up the other end and Céin Darcy slapped the ball into the Derry net as they started their All-Ireland campaign on the front foot.
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship round-robin: Westmeath 0-11 Galway 1-12
A 67th-minute Shane Walsh goal finally saw Galway pass the stubborn challenge from Westmeath and keep their 100 per cent All-Ireland round-robin record going.
Westmeath had taken an early lead thanks to points from Sam McCartan and Robbie Forde, but there was a spanner thrown in their works when Ronan O’Toole was given a black card.
Galway then capitalised on his absence, taking the lead thanks to points from Céin Darcy and Walsh, who performed well for Galway in their last All-Ireland final appearance against Kerry last term, in which he scored nine points, seven coming from play.
The contest remained tight for most of the first half, with John Heslin and Walsh trading scores from frees, but it was the home side who had nudged ahead by half-time, 0-8 to 0-7.
Heslin put Westmeath two up early in the second half but Galway came storming back to level before Matthew Tierney put them in front.
Westmeath levelled again, but a defensive error saw Walsh get a clear run on goal before firing past Jason Daly.
Heslin tried to rally the home side with a free but two more points from Pádraic Joyce’s men saw them edge the encounter and set up a decisive clash with Armagh with top spot up for grabs
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship round-robin: Galway 0-15 Armagh 1-12
The two finalists will be familiar with each other after facing off earlier in the Championship, with the same referee.
When the sides had previously met in Championship action, in the 2022 All-Ireland SFC quarter-final, they were involved in a brawl and a penalty shoot-out that went the way of the Tribesmen.
This time around top spot in their group and a direct route into the last eight were up for grabs, and Galway were seemingly in control for most of the game.
Tiernan Kelly opened the scoring for Armagh before Matthew Tierney eventually got Galway on the scoreboard for the first time after almost 12 minutes.
The Tribesmen pulled away after the first quarter, however, with Dylan McHugh having himself a brilliant game from half-back, whilst Walsh demonstrated why he is one of the best forwards in the country
However, Armagh kept pegging them back and stayed in the fight throughout.
Galway went into the break leading 0-8 to 0-6 and emerged still looking like the better side at the start of the second period.
As the half went on, the Tribesmen only got stronger, and Armagh seemed to get more and more puffed out.
The Orchardmen appeared to have run out of answers as the lead was extended to five points, but Galway were wasteful with Robert Finnerty and Walsh missing big chances to put the game to bed.
Armagh then gained a lifeline when Conor Turbitt stroked over a free and then was immediately gifted the ball by Conor Gleeson from a wayward kickout.
Turbitt went directly towards goal and Kelly arrived in support before blasting Armagh right back into the mix.
It was Kelly’s turn to then receive a kickout from Gleeson and Rian O’Neill was the one to deal the blow to Galway, whose confidence seemed to be crumbling away at this point.
Walsh galvanised the Tribe with a free from the 45-metre line to give them the lead again as four minutes of extra-time was signalled.
When all seemed to be over, Stefan Campbell then steamrolled down the field and fisted over to draw the game and send Armagh straight through to the quarters as the winners of Group 1.
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship preliminary quarter-final: Galway 0-14 Monaghan 0-11
The Tribe did just about enough to win and no more as Monaghan made them fight for every score they got in Salthill.
Robert Finnerty’s five-point haul went a long way to helping them book their place in an All-Ireland quarter-final against the mighty Dubs.
Monaghan, who had been having a sub-par season, showed signs of the side they could be and might consider themselves hard done by with the result after they were a crossbar away from changing the outcome.
They trailed by two when Barry McBennett took Conor McCarthy’s pass, cut inside his marker and smashed in a shot that beat Conor Gleeson but hammered the underside of the woodwork.
Instead of bouncing in, the ball bounced out and instead of being a point ahead, the Ulster side soon found themselves three down, and the brave Farneymen’s time ran out with no chance for Conor McManus to save them.
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship quarter-final: Dublin 0-16 Galway 0-17
The Connacht champions dispelled all rumours of their weakness as and their tendency to roll over to the big boys in a historic win at Croke Park.
It was the men from the west coast who came from behind to dethrone the holders and blow the All-Ireland SFC race wide open.
This was the first time Dublin had lost at this stage of the competition in 15 years, despite Seán Kelly and Shane Walsh going off with hamstring issues for Galway.
Walsh managed to score seven points, including three from open play, in the 65 minutes he spent on the pitch.
At half-time, it looked like Dublin would march on again as they were four points to the good.
A jubilant Pádraic Joyce, highlighted an early score from Cillian McDaid as a turning point as his side mounted a comeback.
He said: “We targeted those first five, 10 minutes after half-time because if Dublin got the first one or two scores, sure it was game over, they’d have been six up.”
Johnny McGrath, Dylan McGrath, John Maher, McDaid and Walsh all played crucial roles in a remarkable second half as Galway took down the Dubs and made memories that will last a lifetime in the minds of the players, staff and fans who made the trip down the N17.
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final: Donegal 0-15 Galway 1-14
Galway faced one of their toughest tests yet in the shape of Jim McGuinness’s Donegal, who had been having the season that teams dream about.
However, the Tribe would be the ones to come out on top after wearing down Tír Chonaill with their tight defence.
Donegal lost it as much as Galway won it. Four shots were dropped short in the opening exchanges of the second half as the Tribesmen retreated into their defensive shell.
Oisin Gallen, having roasted Liam Silke in the first half, pulled a free wide of the upright that would have nudged the Tir Chonaill men ahead going into the final five minutes.
On such small margins do games of this nature hinge. Suddenly, after a nip-and-tuck battle, Galway could scent blood.
There would be no coming back, no fairytale finish to McGuinness’s first year back at the helm.
As the sound of the Saw Doctors reverberated around Croke Park, the Glenties man waited long enough to shake hands and share a few words with his friend, and former IT Tralee team-mate, Pádraic Joyce.
After an immense effort and a season full of twists and turns, Galway will hope to pull one more historic performance out of the bag and end their 23-year wait to bring Sam Maguire back to the west coast come Sunday.
