FRANK FARRAGHER

WHEN Laois referee Eddie Kinsella sounded the final whistle in the minor semi-final between Galway and Cork last Sunday shortly before three o clock, Gerry Fahy was as disappointed and gutted as his players.

It had been one hell of a rollercoaster afternoon with Galway under pressure early on before they started to bang in the goals, scores which mid-way through the second half had them a clear nine points ahead.

Some observers thought at this point of the game, Galway might have attempted to close up shop, pull back another player or two to sweep up in front of their own goal, and try and hold onto what they had.“We were conscious of trying to defend as well as we could, but there was a huge pressure on those players and I wanted them to play with a sense of abandon and freedom.

“The last thing we, as a management group, wanted to do all year with this team was to stifle them and prevent them from playing their own game. Our whole philosophy was to get players to loosen out and play their own game,” said Fahy.

It was a mindset which came tantalisingly close to pulling off one of the big shocks of this year’s minor championship. Without making too fine a point of it, the majority of Galway supporter were at best hoping for a good display and at worst praying that Cork wouldn’t wallop them off the pitch.

Fahy though always tries to encourage a positive aura around his teams. People like Michael Meehan and Tomás Mannion were brought in to foster that culture of positivity and enterprise which helped to deliver five cracking goals.