Damien Comer ready to climb the ladder in quest for Galway glory

Damien Comer says Galway are "back down to the bottom" in their quest for silverware after a disappointing end to 2023.

The Tribesmen begin their Allianz Football League campaign this Sunday against Mayo, just as they did 12 months ago when the neighbouring counties played out an entertaining draw at MacHale Park.

The pair met again in April's league final - which Mayo won by three points - and the Green and Red plunged another dagger into Galway hearts when they defeated Padraic Joyce's men in the All-Ireland SFC preliminary quarter-final in June.

Three tough pills to swallow for Comer and Co, each one more bitter than the last. But the powerful forward - who endured fitness issues last summer - insists they're ready to scale the mountain again.

"From a personal level it was a very frustrating sort of a year," said Comer at the launch of the 2024 Allianz Football League.

"I felt good coming back after a bit of pre-season and then in the Mayo game [in the league], I was just trying to get back to fitness. Then I had a knee injury against Roscommon. I was lucky to get away with only being out for maybe six weeks with that and not doing my cruciate.

"To get back then and have niggling hamstring injuries after that, trying to get it right, playing certain games, missing other games - it was frustrating overall. I felt like I was moving OK when I was on the pitch but I was just struggling to stay on the pitch."

"When you come off the back of an All-Ireland final appearance the year before and then only make it to the preliminary [quarter-final] the following year, our expectations and our goals for the year as a group would have been higher, but every year you start at the bottom and you have to earn the right to get to the top."

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