Galway open All-Ireland Football Championship campaign with victory over Kildare
GALWAY opened their All-Ireland Senior Football Championship campaign with a comfortable 3-21 to 0-17 victory over Kildare on Saturday evening in Pearse Stadium.
Galway eased past Kildare and in the end they showed more tempo and intent in attacking areas than their opponents. It was a convincing response from Padraic Joyce’s men following their Connacht final loss to Roscommon.
Robert Finnerty was outstanding in attack, finishing with 1-9, all from play, in a superb individual display.Joyce made five changes from the Connacht final, with Conor Gleeson replacing Conor Flaherty in goal, while John Daly, Cian Hernon, Ciaran Mulhern and Matthew Tierney were all introduced to the starting line-up.
First-half goals from Cein D’Arcy and Matthew Tierney helped Galway establish a 2-8 to 0-12 lead by half-time.
The hosts made an ideal start when Finnerty opened the scoring inside the first minute. Kildare responded immediately with a two-point effort from Brian McLoughlin, but Finnerty restored parity four minutes in.
Galway struck for the game’s first goal soon after when Finnerty and Paul Conroy combined brilliantly to release Matthew Tierney, who palmed the ball to the net. Kevin Feely and Finnerty traded scores before Alex Beirne converted a two-pointer to leave it 1-3 to 0-5.
On 17 minutes, Galway began to pull away. Slick build-up play involving Conroy and Dylan McHugh created the opening for Cein D’Arcy, who rifled an excellent finish to the net to give the Tribesmen a 2-4 to 0-5 advantage.
Kildare stayed within touching distance thanks to Alex Beirne, Darragh Kirwan, Ben Loakman and Darragh Swords, cutting the deficit to two points by the interval. Galway, however, continued to dictate matters with Finnerty and Shane Walsh leading from the front in attack.
The teams continued to exchange scores during the third quarter, with Galway leading 2-12 to 0-14 after 50 minutes. During that spell, Galway also had a goal disallowed after referee Paul Faloon ruled that Damien Comer had fouled goalkeeper Eoin Sheehan after bundling him over the line following a short effort from Walsh.
However, the Connacht finalists completely took over in the final 20 minutes, outscoring Kildare by 1-9 to 0-3 over the final 20 minutes.
Cillian McDaid stretched the lead to seven before Conroy and Walsh combined to set up Finnerty, who calmly palmed Galway’s third goal into the back of the net to make it 3-13 to 0-14 after 54 minutes.
Further points from Comer, Conroy, McDaid, John Maher and Shane McGrath, along with a Finnerty two-pointer, wrapped up an emphatic 13-point victory. Kildare’s late scores came from Alex Beirne and substitute Jack Robinson, who struck twice.
Galway are now just one win away from securing a place in the All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals, with victory in round two on June 13/14 enough to guarantee progression into the quarter-finals.
GALWAY: Conor Gleeson; Jack Glynn, Cian Hernon, Liam Silke; Dylan McHugh, Sean Kelly, John Daly,; Paul Conroy (0-1), John Maher (0-1); Cein D’Arcy (1-0), Ciaran Mulhern, Cillian McDaid (0-2); Robert Finnerty (1-9, 2tp), Matthew Tierney (1-0), Shane Walsh (0-6, 1tp, 1tpf, 0-1f).
SUBS: Damien Comer (0-1) for Mulhern (44), Sean Mulkernin for Hernon (54), Shane McGrath (0-1) for Tienrey (58), Shay McGlinchey for Conroy (62), Brian Cogger for McDaid (64).
KILDARE: Eoin Sheehan; Ryan Burke, Mark Dempsey, Brian Byrne; Harry O’Neill, Eoin Lawlor, James McGrath; Kevin Feely (0-1), Brendan Gibbons; Brian McLoughlin (0-3, 1tp), Darragh Kirwan (0-2, 1tp), Colm Dalton (0-1); Ben Loakman (0-1), Alex Beirne (0-5, 2tp, 0-1f), Eoin Cully.
SUBS: James Harris for Lawlor (21, injury), Darragh Swords (0-1) for Cully (26), Jack Robinson (0-2) for Lookman (50), Sam Doran for O’Neill (65).
REFEREE: P Faloon (Down).