Galway forwards the difference as Offaly go down fighting

THE quality of the Galway forwards proved to be a major factor as they collected an expected two National Football League Division 2 points in Salthill on Sunday afternoon.

National Football League Division 2

Galway 2-17
Offaly 3-10

It was an honest, decent and acceptable display by Offaly, who tried hard and competed well for a long time. They were in the game for 45 minutes and while gallant defeats have no place in John Maughan's plans, he will have been happy that his side at least competed with and asked questions of their high flying opponents.

As it was, it Offaly weren't that far away in a four point defeat, though the final scoreline did flatter them and it was a more comfortabble Galway win than it indicates – Offaly's third goal came deep into injury time.

Offaly were three points behind, 1-10 to 1-7, eight minutes into the second half, having trailed by two at half time. In the blink of an eye almost they found themselves 1-14 to 1-7 down by the 49th minute and heading for defeat -Ian Duffy, a late replacement for Paddy Dunican, had made a great save to deny Robert Finnerty a goal in the 43rd minute.

A 51st minute Ruari McNamee goal after a Niall McNamee ball gave Offaly a lifeline. Galway soon took it away from them. Dylan Hyland hit the post with a free that would have reduced it to a score and then Sean Kelly raced through for a great 54th minute goal to make it 2-14 to 2-7. That lead was always going to get Galway home.

It ended very tamely from here with Galway able to ease off the accelerator in the closing quarter, though they did continue to open up Offaly when breaking forward. Both sides got three points in the closing fifteen minutes plus injury time while Anton Sullivan got a late consolation goal for Offaly from a retaken penalty deep in injury time.

The difference between the sides was their respective attacks. Galway's were fast, imaginative, incisive and well able to take scores from all over the place. Not everything they attempted worked and they had a few bad wides but they oozed class and quality. It was a pleasure to watch them play football and in Matthew Tierney and Damien Comer they had two players who threatened to do damage every time they got the ball, scoring 0-3 and 1-2 . Robert Finnerty came into the game in the second half. While Shane Walsh didn't score and was given a breather in the 60th minute, a lot of play went through his haneds – he was tightly marshalled by Offaly's best player David Dempsey.

Offaly's attack weren't that bad and they gave it everything they had. A couple of players, however, drifted down the field as they limited to curtail Galway's attacking play and Offaly didn't always have enough numbers forward. They kept trying to prise Galway open but in comparison to the home attack, their efforts were somewhat pedestrian. Offaly did waste some chances but 10 points is nowhere near enough in modern football. You have to be hiting the 14-15 point mark with a couple of majors thrown in, While Offaly did reach double figures and 3-10 was a very good return, the game was gone from them before the hour mark.

Anton Sullivan did do very well, coming off the bench to kick three quality points, in addition to the penalty goal, and you would wonder why he isn't starting – he picked up a yellow card after arguing with the referee about his retaken penalty in injury time and that could be part of the reason he isn't being started. Sullivan may have had a point about the penalty as he had the ball in hand after his first strike was saved and was about to boot it into the net when the referee told him to take it again. He expertly converted the second penalty but Sullivan needs to avoid soft yellow cards, not that it had any impact at this stage of the game.

Bernard Allen had a super first half in the attack while Dylan Hyland had good spells and the work rate and foraging of Mark Abbott helped keep Offaly on Galway's heels in the first half.

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David Dempsey had a great game at centre half back, showing great physicality and strength on the ball – he went off injured in injury time with Offaly finishing with fourteen men as their quota of subs was used.

Ian Duffy and Declan Hogan also impressed in defence. Jordan Hayes went well at midfield at times and Bill Carroll had his moments but Galway took the overall honours in this sector.

Offaly had orked very hard in the first half, even though the Galway attack looked like inflicting damage every time the ball went into them – Offaly were way too loose early on, conceding 1-2 in the opening seven minutes and it looked like being a very rough afternoon for them at that stage.

Matthew Tierney got two quick points and the superb Damien Comer rattled home the goal after a Tierney pass. Offaly recovered well with the hard working Dylan Hyland pointing and Bernard Allen stunned Galway with a super 10th minute goal, blasting to the roof of the net after a clever Niall McNamee pass sent him in.

Galway got the next two points and Offaly wasted some good possession, dropping a couple of balls short and kicking a couple of wides. Offaly, however, displayed a great work ethic with Mark Abbott and Ruari McNamee dropping back to win ball and they were very much competing with their fancied opponents.

Two Comer points got Galway 1-7 to 1-3 cclear but Mark Abbott and Bernard Allen kicked fine points and Niall McNamee tapped over a free as Offaly trailed by 1-8 to 1-6 at half time.

MAN OF THE MATCH

Damien Comer (Galway): Comer had an excellent game. He scored 1-3, his finishing was superb and his footballing intelligence shone like a beacon.

THE SCORERS

Galway: Damien Comer 1-3, Sean Kelly 1-1, Robert Finnerty 0-4 (1f) Matthew Tierney 0-3, Paul Conroy 0-2, John Daly, Paul Kelly, Finian O'Laoi and Tomo Culhane 0-1 each.

Offaly: Anton Sullivan 1-3 (goal from a penalty), Ruari McNamee 1-0, Bernard Allen 1-2, Dylan Hyland and Niall McNamee (2f) 0-2 each, Mark Abbott 0-1.

THE TEAMS

GALWAY: Conor Gleeson; Sean Kelly, Liam Silke, Jack Glynn; Conor Campbell, John Daly, Johnny Heaney; Dylan McHugh, Paul Conroy; Matthew Tierney, Shane Walsh, Cathal Sweeney; Robert Finnerty, Damien Comer, Dessie Conneely. Subs – Paul Kelly for Campbell (26m), Finnian O'Laoi for Sweeney (26m), Johnny McGrath for Heaney (46m), Eoin Finnerty for Walsh (60m), Tomo Culhane for Kelly (61m),

OFFALY: Ian Duffy (Walsh Island); Declan Hogan (Tullamore), James Lalor (Raheen), Niall Darby (Rhode); Rory Egan (Edenderry), David Dempsey (Ballycommon), Colm Doyle (Clara); Bill Carroll (Cappincur), Jordan Hayes (Edenderry); Mark Abbott (Edenderry), Cathal Mangan (Kilclonfert), Dylan Hyland (Raheen); Bernard Allen (Tubber), Niall McNamee (Rhode), Ruari McNamee (Rhode). Subs – Lee Pearson (Edenderry) for Doyle (45m), Cathal Donoghue (Kilcormac-Killoughey) for Carroll (49m), Anton Sullivan (Rhode) for Ruari McNamee (52m), Jack Bryant (Shamrocks)for Allen (52m), Keith O'Neill (Clonbullogue) for Niall McNamee (66m),

Referee – David Murnane (Cork).