Cunningham's Galway make the perfect start

Allianz Hurling League Division 1A: Galway 0-20 Dublin 0-13

Galway began life under new manager Anthony Cunningham with a seven-point win over the reigning Allianz Hurling League champions Dublin at Pearse Stadium on Sunday.

One of the eight players in the Galway team that won an All-Ireland U21 title under Cunningham last year, Niall Burke, was the star of the show, scoring 0-10, including five points from play.

Conor Cooney and James Regan, two more stars of last year’s U21 success, contributed 0-4 and 0-3 respectively on a day when the attacking ability of the injured Joe Canning was scarcely missed.

Dublin were forced to finish the game with just 14 men, as their full-back, Peter Kelly, was forced off with an injury when manager Anthony Daly had already used his five subs.

The first half was much closer than the final scoreline might have suggested, with the Tribesmen leading by just one point, 0-9 to 0-8, at the break.

Galway played with the wind in the first half and had early scores through Niall Ryan and Cooney before Burke hit his stride and put his side into a 0-6 to 0-3 lead. Shane Durkin and debutant Shane Stapleton were amongst the scorers for the men from the capital.

Leading by one at the break, Galway upped their game on the resumption of play and started to pull clear with Burke and Cooney both on target again as the home side hit four of the next six scores.

When Damien Hayes struck to make it 0-16 to 0-11, Galway had hit four points in succession and had all but wrapped up the win.

Burke added two late points to extend Galway’s lead before Dublin’s Ryan O’Dwyer hit the last point of the match.