Late Muldoon points earn Derry draw
Derry 0-13 Galway 2-7
Enda Muldoon arrowed over two brilliant late points to earn Derry a draw at Maghera.
Goals from Paul Conroy and Michael Meehan had put Galway in the driving seat, but the Oak Leafers, inspired by midfielder Patsy Bradley, battled with spirit and courage with the wind in their faces in the second half.
After playing with the benefit of a strong breeze in the first half, Derry went in level at the break, and the momentum was very much with Galway.
Conroy’s 30th minute goal had given the visitors the impetus, and when Meehan blasted home a penalty 16 minutes into the second period, they appeared to be on their way.
But Liam Sammon’s men added just one further point as Derry knuckled down to a task that had at times looked beyond them.
With a gusting wind in their backs, Derry showed they meant business as they raced into a five points lead after 11 minutes.
Paddy Bradley was swinging his famous left boot with assurance, sweeping over three points, two of them from frees, with centre back Barry McGoldrick also landing a couple of long-range placed balls.
Galway finally opened their account in the 15th minuet when Padraic Joyce picked out Michael Meehan, and the pair’s stunning attacking partnership was to torment Derry throughout the opening 35 minutes.
The Tribesmen reeled off four more points on the trot, three of them from Meehan, who could have gone for the net on at least two occasions.
The goal did eventually come on the half-hour, once again a product of the Joyce-Meehan axis, and it was Paul Conroy who finished, his shot rolling over the line as John Deighan could only parry the corner forward’s firmly struck effort.
Derry lost McGoldrick to a yellow card following a tangle with Meehan just before the break, with Galway corner forward Cormac Bane also sent off on a yellow for a clash with Niall McCusker.
At the turnaround, the sides were level on 0-8 to 1-5 and when Gerard O’Kane hauled down Armstrong midway through the second half, Meehan blasted the penalty to the net.
Derry had freshened things up at the break, bringing in substitutes O’Kane and Christopher McKaigue to shadow Meehan and Joyce, but it was in the middle of the park that they began to pull the strings.
Patsy Bradley hovered up possession on the floor, from loose play and in the air, and Derry drove on from there.
Paul Young also got through some valuable work, his efforts in preventing Galway building from deep another plus for Derry.
The Bradley brothers failed to do justice to their side’s dominance with some erratic shooting, and it was left to the veteran Muldoon to pop up twice on the left wing to lob over two gems from distance.
In between, Meehan did edge Galway back in front, but this draw was the very least Derry deserved.
Derry: J Deighan, K McCloy, N McCusker, R Dillon, P Cartin (0-1), B McGoldrick (0-2, 2f), SL McGoldrick, Patsy Bradley, E Muldoon (0-2), P Young (0-1), P Murphy, B Mullan, Paddy Bradley (0-7, 5f), E Bradley, B McGuigan.
Subs: G O’Kane for B McGoldrick (yellow card, 34), C McKaigue for Dillon (h-t), B Gillis for Deighan (h-t), B Og McAlary for McCusker (42), J Kielt for McGuigan (50).
Galway: A Faherty, N Coyne, F Hanley, D Burke, G Sice, D Blake, D Mullahy, B Cullinane, J Bergin, S Armstrong, P Joyce, D Dunleavy, P Conroy (1-2, 1f), M Meehan (1-5, 1-0 pen), C Bane.
Subs: D Meehan for Mullahy (28), M Clancy for Bane (yellow card, 35), M Lydon for Dunleavy (40), A Burke for Cullinane (60), D Reilly for Clancy (67), Cullinane for Lydon (65).
Referee: C Reilly (Meath).
