That man again.
On Saturday, NUIG will contest their first Sigerson Cup final since 2003. At the start of the competition, the Galway college wouldn’t have been among the favourites, but there’s nobody writing them off now.
They’re hungry, they want this one and they’ve improved with each passing game.
They’ll be underdogs again at the weekend, when they take on UCD in Santry Avenue, but you get the impression they wouldn’t want it any other way.
They’re underdogs because unlike UCD, some of their players aren’t on their county senior panels. In a college GAA world that bows down to the prestigious status of being ‘county’, NUIG are triumphing with a bunch of lads who are starving to win a Sigerson Cup.
They’re not all household names. They don’t need to be.
Wednesday night’s victory over DIT was a big one for NUIG. It was a deserved one.
They lit up a dark, cold and rainy Wednesday evening with their free-flowing attacking brand of football. The slick unity of their front six, who interchange, pass, move and dazzle defences set them apart from a dogged DIT.
NUIG were just as dogged, with Galway beast Damien Comer setting an explosive tone. Beside him, Mayo senior Adam Gallagher was always probing, Enda Tierney was creating while in defence Sean Mulkerrin didn’t give an inch. None of them gave an inch.
They roared into the game in the rain in St. Loman’s GAA pitch. Lively corner forward Sean Kelly rattled the net early on and they never looked back after that.
In the second half, they were a different animal. That was largely due to the introduction of their Westmeath trump card Ronan O’Toole.
O’Toole is a gem of a player.
He’s one of those mercurial talents that seems to have the world at his feet so long as the ball is his hand. There’s pep in his sprightly step and you just know he’s going to take lads on every time.
Named the man-of-the-match despite coming out on the losing side of this year’s Leinster senior club final, the Mullingar youngster has since settled in well with the Westmeath seniors in their League campaign so far.
Last night he was brought off the bench just after half-time – it’s hard to believe he hasn’t started a game in this campaign yet – but O’Toole full of energy against tiring legs only means one thing.
He turned the tide in Galway’s favour, linking up to devastating affect with his fellow forwards and chipping in with two vital scores himself.
They say all defenders hate being ran at. O’Toole is a proverbial nightmare for a back-man.
The thing about him is, you don’t know how he’s going to do it. The shoulder drops, the quads drive, the step comes into play. It’s mazy, it’s quick, it’s off the cuff. It’s bloody great to watch.
Sometimes he cuts back in to set up a chance on his left. Other times, he ghosts past defenders past defenders and beats them for pace on his right.
He scored two points in this semi-final. He conjured both with a dummy, one to his right, one to his left.
For his first one, the DIT defender expects him to try and cut in – like Riyad Mahrez he skips past him down the right.
VIDEO CREDIT: Jerome Quinn Media.
For his second one, the trump card brought out his finisher. A disgraceful dummy that left the DIT defender rooted.
It’ll take a brave manager to leave him on the bench on Saturday.
You can watch the rest of the games’ highlights here via the tremendous coverage of Jerome Quinn media.
