Galway men tough it out in seeing off brave Monaghan

Galway 1-14

Monaghan 0-16

A goal from debutant Robert Finnerty and a penalty save from Conor Gleeson proved crucial in securing Galway senior footballers an opening day National League victory over Monaghan in an action-packed game at Pearse Stadium on Sunday.

With the sides level at four points apiece, a superb Galway move involving captain Shane Walsh and Michael Boyle set up Finnerty for the opportunity to goal and the Salthill/Knocknacarra sharpshooter made no mistake in slipping his effort to the net on 15 minutes. It was a goal his father and former Mayo star Anthony would be proud of.

That score afforded Padraic Joyce’s team the cushion of a lead for most of the tie, although credit to Monaghan, they did manage to gain parity with the Tribesmen on two occasions in the final quarter, only for Walsh, Damien Comer and Matthias Barrett to tally a plethora of neat points in the final 10 minutes to help their side to the win and, more importantly, two valuable National League points.

For their part, Monaghan will bemoan a number of squandered opportunities over the 70 minutes, none least their penalty on 30 minutes. After Jack McCarron was adjudged to have been fouled by Walsh in the large rectangle, Conor McManus had a golden opportunity to goal, only for Gleeson — the hero of the FBD semi-final penalty shootout against Mayo — to save the spot kick.

These were moments that the outcome of this game hung on — a goaline intervention by full-back Sean Mulkerrin was another late on — and, when Galway look back, they can be well pleased at coming through a stern test against a side that has continually operated at a high level over the last decade or so.

Although the Galway defence conceded 16 points, and, of course, the penalty, there were strong performances by Mulkerrin, Gary O’Donnell, man of the match John Daly and Cillian McDaid, who made a number of lung-bursting runs into the heart of the Monaghan cover.

Around the middle, the Tribesmen midfield woes of recent years continued with Athenry’s Tom Flynn now joining the injury list after picking up a back injury in training. With Fiontáin Ó Curraoin (short term) and Ciaran Duggan (long term) also sidelined at present, there is now an onus to bolster this area.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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