Galway 0-16 Armagh-Notre Dame 2-4
The Brighton clubs crossed swords Sunday afternoon with each
side looking for their first win of the season. It was a game that would have Galway as favourites by a
significant margin. Galway ended up
coming away with the win, but the outcome was in serious doubt until the last
10 minutes of the game. Armagh-Notre
Dame held a one-point lead with 15 minutes to go, but the northern effort lost
steam and scoring options were at a premium in the latter stages. Galway finished comfortably in the end, but
not without being put to the test.
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| Armagh-Notre Dame gave it a go but did not have enough juice for Galway. |
Armagh-Notre Dame held their own in the first half, but one
had the feeling that the chances of an upset were slim. Galway missed a plethora of scoring chances
that would have seen their half-time lead be far more than the single point
that it was. A sending off early in the
game also gave the feeling that it would probably hurt the Orange half of
Brighton more than it would Galway.
Corner back, Shane Murney, and Galway’s Keith O’Hara were shown the line
for their part in an off the ball wrestling match eight minutes into the
game. Armagh-ND kept in it for most of
the half thanks to a goal from Conor McGoran who fisted a bouncing ball into
the net from the edge of the small square.
Galway had put three points over the bar, one each from Mark Kenny,
Eoghan Whelan, and Ollie Doherty. Jamie
Keogh leveled the scores and Galway then opened up a lead. Leon Kelly and two Doherty frees looked like
they would put Galway three to the good at the break, but a late flurry from
the northerners reduced the deficit to the one point. Conor McGoran and Shane Marrow each pointed before the
break. There could also have been a
goal, but Pronsias McComiskey got down well to save from McGoran.
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| The Galway footballers got the better of their Brighton rivals, but only just. |
Armagh-Notre Dame threw the cat among the pigeons with a
second half goal that put them into an unlikely one point lead. Galway had missed some easy chances to start
the second period, and at that point the unlikely upset looked possible. The game slipped away from Armagh-Notre Dame
from that point on however. Galway
stepped up their level of intensity and the orchard county side began to
tire. After Doherty leveled the scores,
Kenny and Graham Cullen went to work and combined well to put four points over
the bar between them, and put some distance between the teams. The frustration grew for the northerners as
Galway played the ball around with relative ease in the final quarter. Doherty added two free kicks to round out
the scoring. Armagh-Notre Dame yet to
record their first win, and Galway take their first two points of the season.
Galway: P.
McComiskey, R. Vickers, J. O’Callaghan, S. Fox, E. Whelan, J. Kehoe, O.
Doherty, E. Kavanagh, K. O’Hara, L. Kelly, M. Kenny, G. Cullen, D. Reddin. Armagh-ND:
O. Murphy, S. McGee, S. Murney, S. McKenna, N. Lowry, F. Meehan, K.
Sheerin, C. McGee, D. Shaw, A. Donovan, K. Marrow, C. McGoran, M. Davidson.
By Rory O'Donnell
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