Winning run continues thanks to solid second-half display

GALWAY 0-17

 MONAGHAN 1-10

The winning run continues for Galway footballers but this victory had more than a couple of strange twists to its course as the challenge posed by Monaghan veered from the ultra-confident to the hapless over the space of a short few minutes.

For Galway, it was a case of ‘all’s well that ends well’ as they picked up their fifth Division 1 success on the trot, in the process guaranteeing them a National League Final slot against the all-conquering Dubs on Easter Sunday.

Close on 10,000 people turned out at Pearse Stadium on Sunday for the football and hurling double-bill but at any one time in the ground there wasn’t the feel of such a crowd being present at the well-turned-out Salthill venue.

The course of this match was to change inexorably just a minute before half-time as Monaghan looked to set to round-off a 20-minute spell of dominance with a close range free after Gary O’Donnell had taken down Monaghan centre forward Fintan Kelly.

A point from the resultant free would have put Malachy O’Rourke’s charges 0-8 to 0-5 in front with the interval whistle not far away, but a moment of impetuosity from Kelly was to have a major bearing on the match.

Kelly got into an ‘afters’ tangle with O’Donnell, and then, right under the nose of Derry referee Barry Cassidy, he kicked out at the Galway player, leading to a straight red-card sanction.

There was to be no further score before half-time and the interval break gave Kevin Walsh the chance to re-organise and re-motivate his team while in the dressingroom next door, the blow of the sending-off proved to be terminal for Monaghan.

Maybe, if the Kelly sending-off hadn’t happened, Galway might still have proceeded to dominate the second-half but that we will never know – the de facto situation after the interval was that the home side dominated all aspects of the play.

Galway had started with the aid of the stiffish breeze into the Prairie goal end and they had the cut of business about them in the opening exchanges with Paul Conroy from play and Barry McHugh (free) putting them two ahead.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.