Aidan McAnespies 2-8 Galway
1-7
It was a hard fought encounter between Galway
and Aidan McAnespies in a game that each side badly needed to maintain an
interest in the championship. On a hot,
energy sapping Sunday afternoon it was Aidan McAnespies who made the
breakthrough near the end to secure the points.
The game was still up for grabs entering the final minutes but a moment
of brilliance from Jamie Doolan tipped the balance to McAnespies with seconds
left in the contest. Doolan played a
ball that beat the cover and found Cian Tobin and substitute David McKenna in a
2 on one on the goalkeeper. McKenna had
the final touch and Macs are still in the picture for the playoffs next month.
 |
| Anton McFadden on the ball for Galway. |
It took Aidan McAnespies 17 minutes to register their first
score of the game, however, once the gate was opened a goal and 3 points
without a response from Galway was what
followed. The Galway
full back line did well in the early going in keeping Cian Tobin and Jamie
Doolan under wraps. McAnespies assisted
in that cause by overhitting the ball into the full forward line at times. In spite of had plenty of possession the
northerners had nothing to show for it on the scoreboard. Galway went
into a 3 points to no score lead thanks to the free taking of Barry
Coffey. After Tobin's score just over
half way into the first period, Doolan hit two hard earned points from
play. Frankie Burke put McAnespies into
a one point lead before McAnespies benefited from a poor Galway
kickout to put a goal on the board.
Doolan won the ball about 25 yards from goal and gave it to Tobin who
finished easily. Galway 's
tactics of hitting Conor McGreanor at full forward eventually paid off just
before half time. After winning a long
ball, McGreanor was pulled back in the penalty box. Coffey struck the spot kick well and at the
break it was a one point game, Galway 1-3
McAnespies 1-4.
 |
| Mark Treanor tries to reach past Eoghan Kavanagh for the ball. |
The game was up for grabs in the second half. After Galway
tipped the scales every so slightly in their own favour with a 2 point opening,
McAnespies leveled matters with a Frankie Burke free. It was frantic stuff as each side jockeyed
for the advantage. Fresh legs were
brought in to try and swing the game by both teams. Luke Kelly and David McKenna came in for
McAnespies, while Galway brought in Mark Kenny,
Fergal Durkan, and Rob Lyons. Durkan saw
plenty of the ball and Galway looked like they
just might pull off the win. Coffey
pointed twice from frees to give Galway the
edge heading into the final quarter. As
the heat took its toll on the energy levels on the field, McAnespies rallied put
three points over the bar without reply to take a one point lead. As Galway
tried to respond the tribesmen were hit with a late blow. Doolan played a brilliant ball over the top
and found the incoming Tobin who dished off to David McKenna and the
Crossmaglen man just had to finish it off to make it a four point score game. With 2 scores between the teams and seconds
left the window closed for Galway , with
McAnespies still very much in the championship hunt.
Macs: P. Coakley, N.
Gallen, E. Rigney , D. Lally, N. McGovern, E.
Delmar, S. Sherry (0-1), M. Treanor, C. O'Neill (0-1), F. Burke (0-4), D.
Brolly, C. Tobin (1-1), J. Doolan (0-2).
Sub: D. McKenna (1-0). Galway: M. O'Connor, J. Flynn-O'Connor, N. Freeman,
A. McFadden, M. McGinley, D. Reddin, J. Campbell, E. Kavanagh, P. Nolan, K.
Cummins, B. Coffey (1-6), C. McGreanor (0-1), A. Kelly.
By Rory O'Donnell
No comments:
Post a Comment