Galway 3-36
Westmeath 1-17
GALWAY PICKED UP their first championship win under Henry Shefflin when they hammered Westmeath by 25 points at Pearse Stadium.
Galway never let Westmeath get a foothold in the game and after letting Wexford come back to get a draw last weekend, they were ruthless in Salthill.
Galway had the game in the bag by the 13th minute when Cianan Fahy punished some sloppy defending to shoot to the net and push Galway 1-8 to 0-1 in front as they made the most of the wind.
Ten players hit the target for Galway in the opening half as they built up a 2-25 to 0-8 interval lead. Killian Doyle shot seven points for Westmeath, six of them frees and one from a ’65, while former Galway player Davy Glennon got their only point from play.
Both midfielders and all six forwards hit the target from play by the 16th minute, while wing-backs Padraic Mannion and Fintan Burke also hit the target from distance in an awesome display of shooting.
Westmeath, who pushed Kilkenny last weekend for long periods, just had no answer as Galway were clearly fired up after letting a winning hand slip against Wexford in their opening match.
They had two points on the board inside 50 seconds and that set the trend for opening half. They shot 2-20 from their first 23 shots before recording half a dozen wides before the interval.
Galway got their second goal with a quality move, with Darren Morrissey starting it at the back before David Burke hit a superb long crossfield which Brian Concannon slipped into the path of Joseph Cooney and he raced through to finish superbly after 18 minutes.
Westmeath rallied somewhat after the restart with Derek McNicholas getting in for a goal after 40 minutes, while Killian Doyle’s accuracy kept chipping away at the lead.
But Galway pulled away again and Conor Cooney blasted home a 56th-minute penalty after he himself was fouled by Robbie Grevoille, who was black-carded as the Tribesmen ran out easy winners.
Scorers for Galway: Conor Cooney 1-8 (1-0 pen, 0-5f), Joseph Cooney 1-5, Cianan Fahy 1-4, Cathal Mannion 0-4, David Burke 0-3, Brian Concannon 0-2, Gavin Lee 0-2, Evan Niland 0-2, Padraic Mannion 0-2, Tom Monaghan 0-1, Fintan Burke 0-1, Darren Morrissey 0-1, Eanna Burke 0-1.
Scorers for Westmeath: Killian Doyle 0-14 (0-12f, 0-1 ’65), Derek McNicholas 1-0, Davy Glennon 0-1, Kevin Regan 0-1, Johnny Bermingham 0-1.
Galway
1 Éanna Murphy (Tommy Larkins)
2 Jack Grealish (Gort), 3 Daithí Burke (Turloughmore), 4 Darren Morrissey (Sarsfields)
5 Pádraic Mannion (Ahascragh-Fohenagh), 6 Gearóid McInerney (Oranmore/Maree), 7 Fintan Burke (St Thomas’)
10 David Burke (St Thomas’), 15 Cathal Mannion (Ahascragh-Fohenagh)
9 Tom Monaghan (Craughwell), 11 Conor Cooney (St Thomas’), 8 Jospeh Cooney (Sarsfields)
13 Evan Niland (Clarinbridge), 12 Cianan Fahy (Ardrahan), 14 Brian Concannon (Killimordaly)
Substitutes:
18 Tiernan Killeen (Loughrea) for P Mannion (half-time)
24 Kevin Cooney (Sarsfields) for Monaghan (52)
23 Gavin Lee (Clarinbridge) for Niland (59)
25 Éanna Burke (St Thomas’) for C Cooney (63)
21 Johnny Coen (Loughrea) for Daithi Burke (71)
Westmeath
1 Conor Bracken (St Oliver Plunkett’s)
2 Conor Shaw (Brownstown), 3 Tommy Doyle (Lough Lene Gaels), 18 Johnny Bermingham (Castletown Geoghegan)
5 Aaron Craig (St Oliver Plunkett’s), 6 Robbie Greville (Raharney), 7 Jack Galvin (Cullion)
8 Cormac Boyle (Raharney), 10 Kevin Regan (Cullion)
12 Davy Glennon (Mullagh, Galway), 13 Derek McNicholas (Lough Lene Gaels), 11 Joey Boyle (Raharney)
15 Killian Doyle (Raharney), 14 Niall O’Brien (Castletown Geoghegan), 9 Niall Mitchell (Clonkill)
Substitutes:
25 Conor Kane (Castletown Geoghegan) for c Boyle
22 Owen McCabe (Fr Dalton’s) for McNicholas (51)
26 Alan Cox (Delvin) for T Doyle (52)
19 Jack Gillen (Cullion) for (58)
17 Shane McGovern (Crookedwood) for O’Brien (65)
Referee: Patrick Murphy (Carlow).
