NO MOORE EXCUSES FOR THE TRIBESMEN
VETERAN Galway defender Fergal Moore has vowed to continue ‘chasing that medal’ but conceded there is no guarantee the Tribesmen will end their All-Ireland hoodoo. Boss Anthony Cunningham was adamant after Sunday’s four-point final loss to Kilkenny that the current Galway team will claim the Liam MacCarthy Cup eventually. Cunningham maintained that ‘these guys will still go on to win an All-Ireland, it’s in them, the hurling is there’. But while Moore is fully committed to the cause and will return in 2016 despite turning 34, he refused to echo Cunningham’s prediction. It was Moore’s third final defeat in all, having captained the team in 2012 and been on the extended panel in 2005 and he said they have consistently maintained a positive outlook only to come up short. ‘You have to say that, don’t you?’ said Moore of Cunningham’s claim. ‘You have to think that every year that you start out, you can win. ‘Everyone that starts training in October or November thinks they have a team good enough to win the All-Ireland. ‘But we’re kind of sick of hearing that in Galway now. I’m a long time with the team and we have a team good enough to win it every year but haven’t won it. ‘We have to deliver on the talent that we have. It’s about being consistent, year in, year out and that’s one thing we have to focus on for next year.’ Galway’s task now is to avoid the two-year dip in form they experienced after the 2012 final loss to Kilkenny.
MEATH football boss Mick O’Dowd has filled out his back-room team with the ratification of former goalkeeper Brendan Murphy and Summerhill’s Declan McCabe as selectors. Murphy, an ex-Wimbledon FC and Ireland Under 21 soccer player, made his debut for Meath in 2006, having won an All-Ireland minor medal in 1992. He returned to the panel this summer, but did not feature.