Comer sets the tone as Galway tough it out against Tyrone

GALWAY 1-9

TYRONE 0-8

A GREY, squally and muddy afternoon in the closing days of January is a long way removed from the late Summer magic of Croke Park but when the pressure came on at Tuam Stadium on Sunday, Galway didn’t shirk from getting down and dirty to extract two precious Division One points from this tough and sometimes bruising battle with Tyrone.

After seven long years out of the Division One spotlight, there was a sense of expectation mixed in with a tingle of trepidation as Galway approached their first big test of 2018, but a blistering start – fortified with an admirable work ethic over the 70 minutes – were the key factors in getting Kevin Walsh’s charges over the line.

Tyrone will never be the beauty queens of Gaelic football – and they probably don’t want to be either – but unless a team can match their physicality and doggedness in the hand-to-hand combat situations, Mickey Harte’s side will tend to impose their will on the game.

The bustling power of Damien Comer as he smashed a low drive to the back of Niall Morgan’s net less than 20 seconds after the game started set the tone for the encounter, and from there on, Galway never lost the lead, stretching it out to six points by the 55th minute.

Full coverage in this week’s Connacht Tribune.