McInerney’s wonder goal is highlight of routine success
Galway 4-22
Offaly 0-17
FOREWARNED is forearmed, but Galway hurlers could have rocked up to Pearse Stadium on Sunday having been out on the town the previous night and still have got the job done comfortably in their opening round National League tie.
Such was Offaly’s poverty, the home team didn’t have to do much out of the ordinary as they cantered to victory in at times an embarrassing mismatch. Galway scored four goals, but it could just as easily have been eight given the ease in which they regularly cut through the opposition defence.
Having got a fright from the Faithful men in the Walsh Cup, Galway would have been braced for some testing exchanges, but when they retired 1-12 to 0-8 in front at the break having faced the strong wind, you knew the rest of the match would make painful viewing for the Offaly fans in attendance.
Galway had hardly set the pulses racing in that early-season tournament – suffering a 19-point drubbing from Dublin, together with two unconvincing wins – but this was a significant step up on those performances even allowing for Offaly’s limitations.
Fielding only five of the team which had struggled in Ballinasloe in January, Galway were considerably sharper and more urgent this time even on the gluepot surface. They were miles ahead of Offaly with several individuals on trial making a positive impression.
But all will be in the shadow of defender Gearóid McInerney this week after his wonder goal in the dying moments of the first half. Put in the clear by an instinctive pass from the impressive Thomas Monaghan, the Oranmore/Maree man galloped unhindered for 80 yards, then survived a despairing challenge from David King before expertly finishing low to the net.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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