Green shoots for London as Galway head for Ruislip

Last year London manager Michael Maher was devastated after his side just missed out on a place in the Tailteann Cup knockout stages.

But this weekend the journey starts all over again – this time with a panel that saw 15 debuts handed out in 2024 by the 'Exiles boss.

"It's an extraordinary amount of debuts to hand out for an inter-county team but that’s the way it was," Maher says.

"And it gave us a great chance to look at the squad in depth for the season.

"Many of the players got a fair crack of the whip and we are really looking forward to the Galway game now.

"It will be a great occasion on Saturday and we are hoping for a fine crowd at Ruislip – it’s always a brilliant chance for Gaels in London to come together and celebrate Gaelic Games."

London have come on nicely under Maher’s stewardship since he was appointed in 2019.

There have been constant challenges but Maher and his support team and players have always prevailed.

Last year, for example, they trained on a rugby pitch for some time and they were five weeks without a game in the run-up to Offaly game which was hard to contend with.

But he has made a big impact since taking charge of the side five years ago.

The 2022 Allianz League, for instance, featured three early victories and saw serious momentum generated.

This year they beat Mayo in the FBD League and got a useful run-out against Roscommon.

Against Mayo, London had a strong shape at the back and saw Shay Rafter score six points on his debut.

Captain Eoin Walsh was deployed as a sweeper and in the end they had one point to spare over Kevin McStay’s side.

Rafter was in brilliant form against Roscommon also but they lost by nine points in the FBD League semi-final.

"Those games gave us a glimpse of what it was like to