Galway secured an impressive victory over Roscommon last weekend, booking their place in the Connacht final after a 1-13 to 1-9 victory at Dr Hyde Park.
Padraic Joyce's men were certainly the more dominant side throughout, playing the better football and largely keeping the opposition at arm's length. In truth, they probably should have won the game by more.
While Galwegians will be delighted with their team's performance, there was one aspect of the game they weren't pleased with. It came via the man-of-the-match award, which was granted to Roscommon's Ciaran Murtagh by the RTÉ panel of Lee Keegan and Sean Cavanagh.
The majority of viewers felt that Damien Comer should have been handed the gong, with the Annaghdown man scoring 1-4 and playing a vital role for the win.
When the Galway forward appeared on The Sunday Game after the game, Cavanagh placed the blame on Keegan for robbing him of the award.
Damien Comer agreed to join the RTÉ panel despite being overlooked for POTM after Galway's four-point win over Roscommon in Hyde Park #TheSundayGame #rtegaa pic.twitter.com/cYITi4TAev
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) April 23, 2023
The former Mayo star has faced some criticism as a result, all of which was completely overblown.
Lee Keegan explains Damien Comer man-of-the-match snub
Lee Keegan has since clarified the decision that was made on the day, taking a cheeky dig at his television colleague in the proccess.
Writing in his column on RTÉ, the Westport man said that both himself and Cavanagh agreed on Murtagh as man-of-the-match, only for the Tyrone native to hilariously throw him under the bus live on air.
Needless to say, it's been a tense few days in the west since Man of the Match gate.
I must admit I hadn't known the MOTM award was taken quite so seriously, so it's been an eye-opener in that respect!
Either way, I would like to give full marks to my co-analyst Sean Cavanagh who showed all his punditry experience by throwing me under the bus so soon after the game.
We had - jointly, I might add - made the call with five minutes or so remaining, when Ciarain Murtagh and Damien Comer - both of whom had excellent games - had scored 1-03 apiece, with Murtagh getting 32 possessions and clipping on another three points from frees. We said we'd give the nod to the Roscommon man.
Of course, Comer then made a great block when it was still a one-score game and fisted the insurance point after working a clever one-two with Rob Finnerty.
I asked the producers if there was any chance we could change the call. They said no. Then we went live and Sean was straight in there with the claim "well, I was overruled anyway." The shrewd operator.
Suffice to say, I hadn't known people bought into the Man of the Match business as much as they did. I'll know for again.
He took it all in good spirits.
It's fair to say that Lee Keegan will make sure to pick out the standout performer on the winning team to be man-of-the-match during his next appearance on a broadcast.
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