June 16 - Senior Hurling: Galway v Fr. Tom Burke's

Fr. Tom Burke's 1-11 Galway 2-21

Galway opened their senior hurling championship with a convincing win over Fr. Tom Burke's.  After a close first half Galway put their stamp on affairs in the second to run out  winners by almost double scores.  Tipperary men Bobby Bergin and Paddy Grace controlled affairs in the middle of the field as well as contributing several scores, and the back line closed down the spaces to keep Tom's from making any inroads.  The forwards proved to be on the mark to put considerable distance between the sides by the time all was said and done.

Fr. Tom's Shane Howley

The opening period was evenly contested, though Tom's started the better of the 2 teams.  After Shane Howley pointed, Sean Driscoll found the far corner of the net with his shot and Tom's were off and running with a four point lead.  Galway soon settled and started to click.  The Tribesmen started to gain an upper hand in mosSt areas of the field and Tom's goal was canceled out after Philip Ivors was pulled down in the penalty area.  David Collins put the shot away and Galway had the lead.  Four of the five forwards got on the scoresheet, and midfielder Grace picked off three points.  John Moylan looked sharp at corner forward, and managed two points while Dan McCormack, Ivors, and Collins added to the tally.  Tom's kept in touch with some well earned points from Shane Howley, Aodhan McEnrey, and Cormac Joyce-Power.  At the break it was Galway by four, 1-12 to 1-8.

Eoin Casey tries to break away for Galway.

The second half saw Tom's battle hard in their own half back line, but each ball forward yielded little or nothing.  There always seemed to be a maroon shirt under each ball sent into the Galway half of the field, and whatever chances Tom's had to shoot ended up wide of the posts.  For their part Galway added 5 points to their total before Sean Curran netted a second goal with just over 10 minutes left.  Tom's frustration bore itself out with yellow cards issued to Gordon Joyce and Ciaran Moore.  Galway put the finishing touches to the game with Bergin, O'Connor, and Moylan rattling off a trio of points.  A good start for Galway who will meet Brighton rivals Wexford next Sunday.

Tom's:  F. Keenan, R. Burke, T. Bowe, S. Coughlin, M. Deegan, G. Joyce, D. Lafferty, S. Howley (0-4), S. Driscoll (1-0), A. McEnrey (0-2), C. Joyce-Power (0-1), D. O'Mahoney (0-1), M. Dervan (0-3).  Galway:  P. Connors, P. Ryan, C. Lordan, E. Casey, P. Gahan, C. Murphy, P. Grace (0-5), B. Bergin (0-2), D. Collins (1-2), D. McCormack (0-4), S. Curran (1-0), P. Ivors (0-2), J. Moylan (0-5).  Sub:  D. O'Connor (0-1).

 

By Rory O'Donnell