Galway lined up in a V as a tribute to former manager John O’Mahony before the All-Ireland semi-final.
A Mayo native, O’Mahony earned legendary status in Galway managing them to two All-Ireland senior football titles in 1998 and 2001.
O’Mahony passed away last week after a battle with cancer and he was remembered with a moment of appreciation before Sunday’s All-Ireland semi-final between Galway and Donegal.
The Galway player made the shape of the letter V as a tribute to O’Mahony, with wing back and man-of-the-match Dylan McHugh explaining after the game that V was for Vanguard. A vanguard of course, is a group of people leading the way in new developments or ideas.
“V for the vanguard,” he told Maurice Brosnan.
“John’O was so ahead of his time. It was nice to honour him for what he has given to Galway football.”
Galway defeated Armagh by 1-14 to 0-15 after a tense affair in Croke Park. The Tribesmen got a lucky break in the first half when Paul Conroy’s mis-hit shot from distance defied Donegal goalkeeper Shaun Patton and bounced straight into the net.
Donegal roared back into the game after some brilliant scores from Michael Langan (four) and Oisin Gallen to lead by a point after 41 minutes. But Donegal’s shooting deserted them down the stretch as points from Liam Silke and Robert Finnerty inspired Galway to victory.
They now advance to the All-Ireland semi-final in two weeks’ time where they’ll take on Armagh.
