Galway and Louth make the perfect start

Allianz Football League Division II: Derry 1-11 Galway 1-15

Galway began life in the Allianz Football League under new manager Alan with a hugely impressive victory over Derry at Celtic Park on Sunday afternoon.

Mulholland put faith in a number of the players that played under him on the All-Ireland winning U21 side last year and they repaid him in spectacular fashion.

However, it was Derry who made the better start, grabbing the first goal of the game on 17 minutes, Cailean O’Boyle rising on the edge of the square to fist home after Paddy Bradley’s attempted point got caught in the breeze.

Three points down, Galway didn’t allow their heads to drop and they were soon level thanks to scores from Michael Martin, Mark Hehir and Nicky Joyce.

The Tribesmen were in the lead when Gareth Bradhshaw burst on to a pass at pace and sidestepped Derry goalkeeper Danny Devlin for a simple finish.

That goal gave Galway a 1-8 to 1-4 lead at the break, but John Brennan’s men fought back and thanks mostly to scores from the prolific O’Boyle, Mark Lynch, Chrissy McCaigue and goalkeeper Devlin from a ’45 brought the gap back to just one point.

Mulholland, though, will be extremely happy with the response he got from his players at the crucial juncture of the game, as Martin, Joe Bergin and Joyce strung a sequence of three unanswered points together to seal victory.

Galway play Louth at home next Sunday full of confidence after an extremely satisfying start to their 2012 campaign.

===

Allianz Football League Division II: Louth 0-12 Westmeath 1-6

Peter Fitzpatrick’s Louth opened their Allianz Football League Division II campaign with a three-point defeat of fellow newcomers Westmeath on Sunday afternoon.

The game started slowly with the Wee County dominating matters early on and establishing a two-point lead with scores from Darren Clarke and Ronan Carroll.

Westmeath finally got off the mark after 15 minutes when Trevor English pointed, before the Lake County scored the only goal of the game seconds later.

It was another newcomer, Callum McCormack, who found the net, nudging the ball past Louth goalkeeper Neil Gallagher, pushing Westmeath into a 1-3 to 0-5 lead at the break.

However, Louth took complete control in the second half with Paddy Keenan, who was making his 100th appearance for Louth, chipping in with four excellent points in a performance worthy of reaching such a significant personal milestone.

Aaron Hoey and Clarke (0-3) also pitched in with some fine scores as Louth hit five points on the spin to register an impressive home win.