Allianz HL D1A: Galway win in Birr

Allianz Hurling League Division 1A

Galway 2-23 Offaly 0-18

By Kevin Egan at St Brendan's Park, Birr

Galway’s complete control of this Allianz League tie for the opening half, allied to Cathal Mannion’s stunning strike to the top corner of the net immediately after half-time, allowed them to cruise through the second 35 minutes and easily pick up their first league points of this year’s campaign.

Creditable performances from Offaly against Kilkenny and Waterford, not to mention Galway’s competitive showings against Tipperary and Cork, ensured that there was a large crowd at St. Brendan’s Park for this crucial showdown.

The audience didn’t get the contest they would have hoped for however as Galway hurled into a strong breeze in the opening half and completely owned the ball, moving the sliotar around with precision and purpose, to leave Offaly chasing shadows.

Aaron Niland, Colm Molloy and Jason Rabbitte were impressive up front, Cathal Mannion popped up in the right place all over the pitch while the central defensive axis of Cillian Trayers and Daithí Burke was again very strong, albeit aided by Offaly’s over-reliance on high ball into outnumbered inside forwards.

It was 0-9 to 0-6 at half-time in favour of the Tribesmen with Galway also ‘leading’ the wide count eight to five, though Offaly did pass up a couple of fine goal chances.

Donal Shirley flashed one shot over the bar, Ronan Glennon blocked a Daniel Bourke attempt and perhaps the best opportunity of all saw Ter Guinan bear down on goal, only for an incredible diving hook from Pádraic Mannion to prevent him from getting his shot away.

When Cathal Mannion hit 1-1 in the first minute of the second half as the wind continued to blow towards the town end of the Birr venue, the prospect of a landslide win for the visitors was very real.

It never happened, through a combination of Offaly’s grit and stubbornness and Galway’s lack of intensity. Galway fell into the same trap of going long into contests rather than working the ball through the lines to restrict the number of good scoring chances that came their way, while Offaly saw Brian Duignan come into the contest, hitting three of his four points in that second half.

Duignan also had another goal chance that he flashed into the side netting, and had he found the target, there might have been some drama in the closing stages, with Offaly briefly cutting the lead to six points on a couple of occasions.

That was to be as close as they got, and when Conor Whelan had a chance to find the net at the other end to add gloss to the scoreboard, the Kinvara man was ruthless in his finish at the end of his first appearance of the season, another good news story for Micheál Donoghue and the Galway support.

Scorers for Galway: Cathal Mannion 1-8 (5fs), Conor Whelan 1-1, Aaron Niland 0-3, Jason Rabbitte 0-3, Colm Molloy 0-3, Thomas Monaghan 0-2, Cianán Fahy 0-1, Stephen O’Halloran 0-1, Cillian Trayers 0-1.

Scorers for Offaly: Adam Screeney 0-7 (5fs), Brian Duignan 0-4, Jack Clancy 0-2, Ter Guinan 0-1, Donal Shirley 0-1, Oisín Kelly 0-1, Luke Watkins 0-1, Colin Spain 0-1.

Galway: Stephen O’Halloran; Joshua Ryan, Cillian Trayers, Ronan Glennon; Pádraic Mannion, Daithí Burke, TJ Brennan; Gavin Lee, Cian Daniels; Tiernan Killeen, Cathal Mannion, Aaron Niland; Colm Molloy, Jason Rabbitte, Tom Monaghan.

Subs: Cianán Fahy for Lee (25), Conor Whelan for Niland (51), Seán Murphy for Ryan (54), Declan McLoughlin for Burke (65).

Offaly: Liam Hoare; Brecon Kavanagh, Ben Conneely, Patrick Taaffe; Jack Clancy, Killian Sampson, Donal Shirley; Cathal King, Ter Guinan; Oisín Kelly, Conor Doyle, Daniel Bourke; Eoghan Cahill, Brian Duignan, Adam Screeney.

Subs: David Nally for Cahill (18), Luke Watkins for Doyle (half-time), Colin Spain for King (59), Luke Nolan for Guinan (64), Ciarán Cleary (68).

Referee: Johnny Murphy (Limerick).