Galway’s All-Ireland football triumph in 1998 will undoubtedly bring back happy memories for Tribesmen supporters who were lucky enough to witness it.
The triumph over Kildare ensured the Sam Maguire Cup headed to the county for the first time since 1966 as captain Ray Silke and his teammates instantly secured legendary status.
Silke joined Off The Ball’s Nathan Murphy on the Saturday Panel to reflect on what was a special day for the county, 20 years ago.
“I think cometh the hour, cometh the man to a certain extent,” Silke told OTB.
“Ja’s [Fallon] points were huge – they just gave momentum to the whole thing. And [John] Divily drove down a ball, and I was outside him saying: ‘lay it off’. But John drove it down the field, [Sean O] Domhnaill’s got on it and flicked it into PJ [Padraic Joyce].
“And I think that goal really lit the fuse. I think Ja scored a screamer as well – Ja had the cut of it – and then he scored one from the sideline.
“And when points like that start going over, two things happen: the people scoring them start to get phenomenal belief, but the team conceding them starts asking an awful lot of questions.
“And when you see someone score from 45-yards off his left on your team captain and then he scores another one, and then he scores a sideline.
“To score a sideline under the Hogan Stand – I’ve never taken heroin – but it’s like a rush of adrenaline that you start saying: ‘this is going to be our day’.
“And PJ for the goal, he just slipped inside and slipped it into the back of the net. And then you start believing that this is going to happen.”
Listen to the full Saturday Panel podcast below:
Written by James Hopper
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