GAA News

Galway goalkeeper James Skehill has admitted he failed his fitness test ‘in his head’ on Sunday and played through an intense pain barrier to try and help his side to All-Ireland glory.

By Declan Whooley

The shot-stopper admitted that his puck-outs were shorter, was restricted in his agility and every movement felt like “being stabbed in the back”.

From the off-set the Cappataggle man was under pressure and kicked the first ball that came his way due to the pain and feels he could have prevented the opening Kilkenny goal had he been fully fit.

“I’ll genuinely tell you if I was fit I would have caught Eoin Larkin’s shot. These big games are defined on big moments,” he said in today’s Daily Star.

After popping his shoulder during the final session on Friday night’s training he was given just a 20 per cent chance of making the team.

“On Sunday I got about five or six injections, took panadol, but they didn’t work, nothing kicked in. Every puck-out was like getting stabbed.”

The decision to play was a 50-50 call but Skehill wanted to keep the familiarity of the team together and tried to play through the pain barrier until he was replaced at half-time in severe discomfort.

In an admirable move, Skehill said he was trying his best for the team, though playing such an important game two days after dislocating a shoulder seems an incredibly tall order.

While men are often accused of bottling up feelings and emotions, this charge cannot be aimed at the Galway keeper who was fulsome in his praise of his team-mates.

“Sure, look it, I love all them guys so I said I would give everything I could to contribute,” he admitted.

Skehill's noble act is expected to sideline the 24 year-old for the next six months.