Galligan takes breakthrough performance in his stride

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For a man who had just come off the bench to deliver a Man of the Match performance in a knockout championship match against his county’s greatest rivals, Thomas Galligan was taking it all in his stride.

“We played them last year and we won. There was no real change going out this year, same effort, same intensity and we knew we’d be there or thereabouts at the end of the game and as it panned out, it was the very, very end of the game when we pulled through,” said the 24-year-old.

It’s been a hectic few weeks for the Lacken clubman. He contracted Covid-19 and was forced to self-isolate for two weeks, missing out on a crucial training period. He came on and impressed against Roscommon but wasn’t called on till half-time here. When he entered the arena, though, there was no stopping him.

“I was carrying a bit of a knock. I missed the Kildare game, I had Covid, so I had to take two weeks of doing nothing. Getting over that was a bit tough so it was about building back to fitness.

“Hopefully the body will be alright, it will be sore after that. If we go out with the same intensity next week we’ll be into a semi-final but if we drop the intensity at all, there’s no easy games in the Ulster Championship, we’ll be under pressure.”

Galligan enjoyed the aerial battle around the middle with the likes of the Hughes brothers.

“It’s better that than lads running for short kick-outs. I’d play better when the ball is coming out long. The way the kick-outs are gone now, with the mark around the middle and having to kick out the ball past the 21, it really opens up the game for midfielders to try and catch ball.

“There was seven points in that wind and we always knew that even though we were seven points down, we could come back and make an impact on that game. As it turned out that’s exactly what happened.

“We went in at half-time and nobody was disappointed, everybody had the heads up, just wanted to get back out for the second half. We made a few bad mistakes at the end of the first half that probably flattered Monaghan on the scoreboard at half-time but we rectified that in the second half so it was good to put that straight.”

At the death, he won the kick-out which led to his cousin Raymond’s dramatic winner, although there was some confusion when he seemed to be fouled further on and the ref brought it back.

“It was a mark. To be honest I have had enough rows with referees over this mark rule… Some of them say once you win the mark you have four free steps and if you get touched it’s a free 15 yards further on. Some bring it back to where you won the mark. I don’t really know, I’d love to see some clarification on that. Yeah, I guess he gave it for being tackled after the mark and brought it back to where the mark was made.

“Fair play to Raymond standing up and kicking it, he’s well used to doing that with Lacken. I think everyone in the panel knew that once he got that kick, with that wind, he was going to nail it.”

As for next Saturday?

“Every Ulster Championship game is a battle. Getting the bodies right, getting back out training and maybe fixing some of the mistakes we made, not giving away any handy scores because unless you are at the top of your game and maximum intensity, you’ll be pulled asunder in an Ulster game.

“Hopefully we can bring the same intensity next week and give the Cavan people what they want.”