14-man Galway get new season off to ideal start

DCU       0-17

CURIOSITY may have been the motivating factor in a sizeable crowd braving the January cold to witness new Galway boss Micheál Donoghue’s first game in charge but, in the end, supporters got more than a modest return for the admission price with a Walsh Cup tie that conjured up a number of talking points.

From a clinical first half goal from Joe Canning to the dismissal of All-Star David Burke on a second yellow card before half-time to the devastating impact of his younger brother Eanna when introduced in the latter period, this was a remove, albeit a small one, from a run-of-the-mill season opener.

A couple of skirmishes in the first half also added a bit of bite to proceedings and, granted, while the quality of this fare bore no correlation to what will transpire later in the Spring and Summer, you could sense there was an eagerness to draw a line through last year’s All-Ireland loss and, indeed, a winter of discontent.

In all, five players who started against Kilkenny last Autumn were named in Donoghue’s starting fifteen for this one – namely Johnny Coen, David Burke, Andy Smith, Jason Flynn and Canning – but this was more down to injuries and players being college-tied rather than a radical overhaul on Donoghue’s part.

His hand had been forced and, in this respect, given the unavailability of so many frontline players along with the lack of pre-season training and being reduced to 14 players late in the first half, it was an accomplishment in itself that the Tribesmen were able to pull a result.

Ultimately, you could argue Canning’s 15th minute goal was the difference between victory and defeat but that would be an injustice to the contribution of a plethora of other players, including centre-half back Greg Lally, who had to retire late through injury, and substitutes Eanna Burke and Aidan Harte who shot six points from play between them.

Despite Duggan Park being in relatively good nick, especially when you consider the amount of flooding in the area in recent weeks, the underfoot conditions were difficult and draining. It took time for both teams to adapt, with scores few and far between in the early stages.

In fact, the only scores exchanged initially were between DCU’s Sean Gray (2) and Galway duo Padraig Breheny and Jason Flynn in the opening 14 minutes but then David Collins and David Burke combined to put Canning – who showed a strong pair of hands to collect possession – in the clear and he netted with aplomb.

Full match report in this week's Connacht Tribune.