Galway will go into their qualifier clash with Donegal on Saturday evening with serious question marks hanging over them. None of their players will have more questions to answer than their midfielders.
Tom Flynn and Fiontán O Curraoin were outmuscled, were outfought, and were totally outclassed by Roscommon pairing of Tadhg O’Rourke and Enda Smith in their Connacht final clash recently.
Manager Kevin Walsh claimed that Galway’s problem in this game was “not winning enough ball in the middle area,” he continued “We were dominated completely there.”
Flynn and O Curraoin are two very similar players. Apart from playing alongside each other in midfield on Galway underage teams all the way up along their underage career, they are both of similar build.
They are tall, Flynn is a 6ft 5 in giant and O Curraoin isn’t far off him. Both men have a rangy build, but they are strong.
The pair haven’t been using their physical prowess to their advantage on the Galway senior football team, just like so many big players.
They think that just because they’re big, their size and strength will cover them, but they don’t throw this weight around.
When Galway defeated Cork in the All-Ireland under-21 final in 2013, the pair were utterly dominant in the midfield section. They were two midfield powerhouses driving on their team.
The GAA Hour Show host Colm Parkinson claimed that the pair agreed with the Galway manager’s comments, and feels that O Corrain and Flynn need to take a good, long look at themselves ahead of their knockout clash with Donegal.
“Imagine saying that about a team, who, in the analysis leading up to the game, have a huge strength there and who, against Tipperary last year in the quarter-final, a huge advantage in midfield was the whole analysis. But, like, are these lads Fiontáin Ó Corraín and Tom Flynn over-rated as lads that can actually ensure you’ll break even in midfield?
“O Corraín and Flynn are big lads, but too often for big men, they’re just brushed aside. Imagine Michael Murphy on Saturday, he’ll just say ‘Go away,’ and push them away and bully them…They’re too nice, they’re too bloody nice…Where’s their killer-instinct? Where is their ‘I will not be beaten today instinct…They’re all nice footballers, are they bloody winners though?”
Armagh legend Stevie McDonnell was in agreement with Parkinson and feels the pair need to find that nasty streak, that ruthlessness that will win you games.
“These players have to stamp their authority a wee bit more. They have to find a nastiness in their game to be ultra-competitive. You have to have a desire and a drive to go and hunt balls down in that midfield zone nowadays, and I haven’t seen enough of that yet.
There’s no doubting the fact that the pair will be motivated come Saturday in Markievicz Park.
You can listen to the discussion and much more from The GAA Hour Football Show here.
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