ALLIANZ FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION II: LAOIS 1-10 GALWAY 3-12

By Declan Rooney at O'Moore Park

Laois were swept aside by a rampant Galway as two Damien Comer goals and another from Adrian Varley gave the Tribesmen a convincing win in the first day of Division II action.

Laois missed a penalty after three minutes when Donie Kingston's kick was saved brilliantly by Thomas Dolan, and Galway's dominance from there to the break gave them enough of a cushion. Substitute Daniel O'Reilly fired a goal for an improved Laois after the break, but once Comer fisted his second and Galway's third the result was beyond doubt.

Galway were very impressive in this outing and will be a touch disappointed not to have worked a better scoring average from this one after they let Laois gain some foothold in the tie after the break.

The Tribesmen led 2-6 to 0-1 at half-time, the first goal came from Varley in the sixth minute after an incisive move through the hands following a good high catch from Liam Silke. The outstanding Varley had already fisted an early point, and after Eddie Hoare found the target Laois got off the mark when Donie Kingston kicked a free.

But three-in-a-row from corner-back David Wynne, Comer and Hoare gave Galway a 1-5 to 0-1 lead by the 19th minute. A minute later Comer bagged Galway's second goal when he cut in and fired low past Graham Brody, and a super point from captain Gary O'Donnell gave Galway a huge cushion at the break.

O'Donnell kicked the first point of the second half, while Eamon Brannigan and Paul Conroy stretched the lead out to 14 points, but Laois recovered well after O'Reilly rattled the roof of the net with a shot from the ground.

It was a pity that Galway had such an advantage at that point because the Laois challenge then began to gain momentum. A free from Kingston and a point from the impressive substitute Gary Walsh had the deficit down to nine points, but in truth Laois needed a miracle.

But Galway were never really in trouble, and when Comer fisted past Brody in the 46th minute they eased to the win at O'Moore Park.

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Scorers for Laois: D Kingston 0-3 (2f), P Cahillane 0-3, D O'Reilly 1-0, G Walsh 0-1, E O'Carroll 0-1, D Strong 0-1, P Kingston 0-1.

Scorers for Galway: D Comer 2-2, A Varley 1-1, G O’Donnell 0-2, P Conroy 0-2, E Hoare 0-2 (1f), J Heaney 0-1, E Brannigan 0-1, D Wynne 0-1.

**LAOIS: **G Brody; R Kehoe, M Timmons, D Seale; D Strong, P Cotter, G Dillon; K Meany, J O'Loughlin; J Farrell, D Kingston, N Murphy; P Cahillane, E O'Carroll, A Farrell. Subs: K Lillis for Seale (25), P Kingston for Murphy (HT), G Walsh for A Farrell (HT), D O'Reilly for O'Loughlin (HT), T Collins for J Farrell (HT), D O'Connor for Dillon (62).

**GALWAY: **T Dolan; D Wynne, D Kyne, E Kerin; L Silke, G O’Donnell, J Heaney; P Conroy, F O Curraoin; T Flynn, E Hoare, E Tierney; D Comer, A Varley, E Brannigan. Subs: S Walsh for Brannigan (50), P Cooke for Hoare (55), P Mannion for Varley (62 BC), S Denvir for Kerin (70), A Kyne for Heaney (70).

Referee: Ciaran Brannigan (Down)

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