It's the Joyce show in Moycullen
Date Published: {J}
Galway qualified for the FBD final after a six points win over GMIT at Moycullen on Sunday. The Tribesmen, who face Mayo in the National League opener this coming Sunday, will have to face their old foes again on Saturday, February 20, after John O’Mahony’s men advanced to the FBD decider with a four points victory over Roscommon at Ballinlough.
Meanwhile, NUIG’s poor run in the competition continued when they came up just short against Sligo IT at Ballinode. The 1-7 to 0-9 defeat was the students third in as many matches and they ended the campaign without any league points.
Galway 1-16GMIT 0-13
A blistering opening 15 minutes, in which Galway led by 1-6 to 0-1, masked an otherwise average enough performance from Joe Kernan’s men, who held out for a 1-16 to 0-13 victory despite a brave second half comeback from a resilient GMIT outfit at Moycullen on Sunday.
Nicky Joyce once again stole the limelight kicking six points in the opening half before making way to Mark Lydon early in the second. Former minor star Michael Martin and Michael Meehan, who returned from injury, also kept the GMIT defence on their toes as Galway threatened to run riot with the aid of a strong first half breeze.
The Tribesmen led by ten points, 1-10 to 0-3 at the interval with Meehan latching on to a long ball into the danger area from Turloughmore man Barry Cullinane and lobbing ‘keeper David Dowd with a fisted effort.
GMIT looked dead and buried at the break but mustered up a rousing comeback, led by Stephen Griffin and Aidan Campbell, who gave Finian Hanley and Mark McDonagh a rough time of it in defence, and former Galway minor All-Ireland winner, Paul Conroy, who landed an inspirational point midway through the second half.
Despite having several players on the park that could be described as midfielders, Galway struggled at times to gain a foothold in GMIT’s half against the wind, although they did just enough to keep the students at bay.
Meehan retired to the bench after just 20 minutes but his replacement, Barna’s Paddy Kennedy, landed two late points to seal the deal. Mission accomplished but plenty of room for improvement ahead of the National League and FBD final against Mayo in the coming weeks.
For more, read page 31 of this week's Connacht Sentinel.