Galway defeat Derry in wet and windy Pearse Stadium
By CóilÃn Duffy
Galway 1-11 Derry 0-8
Galway booked a place in Round 4 of the All-Ireland SFC Qualifiers following a cagey affair at a wet and windy Pearse Stadium this evening.
Defensive and possession football was the order of the day, with one of the few moments of brilliance a 61st minute Danny Cummins goal which set Kevin Walsh’s side on the way to a six-point victory.
Gary Sice also put in a tremendous display, and while all of his seven-point tally came from place balls, the Corofin clubman was also an excellent link player throughout.
Derry won the toss, but opted to play against the wind in the opening half, and despite this, the visitors made a sterling start.
Brian McIver’s side claimed a 0-3 to 0-0 lead after eight minutes, thanks to scores from Eoin Bradley, Benny Heron and Danny Heavron, but suddenly slipped, despite hugely dominating possession..
Gary Sice and Paul Conroy brought Galway firmly back into contention with their superb dead-ball accuracy - Sice firing five points from frees, with St James’s clubman Conroy adding two as Galway moved 0-7 to 0-3 ahead after 30 minutes.
Cork whistler Conor Lane was certainly well up with the play and left little unpunished, awarding 15 frees apiece over the course of the opening 35 minutes.
Galway utilised this to their full advantage, despite Derry’s firm dominance in the possession stakes, with the Oak Leafers holding 63% of the ball early on.
Derry lost defender Brendan Rogers to a black card in the 29th minute, with TV pictures showing that the Slaughtneil clubman was unfortunate to be sent to the line.
A Danny Heavron point from play was Derry’s first score in 23 minutes, as the Magherafelt man left the score at 0-7 to 0-4, three minutes before the break.
Galway were guilty of some bad misses, with wides from Johnny Duane and Conroy bringing their tally to five for the half.
A second Benny Heron point cut the gap to two points in injury-time, but an excellent Gareth Bradshaw point handed the hosts their first score from play, and an 0-8 to 0-5 interval lead.
Derry introduced Emmett McGuckin at half-time for their captain Mark Lynch, and the visitors worked well on the restart.
Points from Heavron and Cailean O’Boyle cut the gap to the minimum after 42 minutes, before both sides were guilty of a number of missed chances.
A fine catch by Gareth Bradshaw from a kick-out was one of the individual highlights of the match, before Galway kicked on with points from Sice and a fine individual effort from Gary O’Donnell.
Derry craved scores but found it hard to breakdown the Galway defence, and also struggled hugely with accuracy.
Sice bagged his seventh pointed free with 10 minutes remaining, before Cummins netted a superb goal after great interlinking work with Liam Silke to hand Galway a 1-11 to 0-7 lead in the 62nd minute.
The action was very stop-start in the closing 10 minutes, with Derry losing their top performer Heavron to a black card.
Substitute Neil Forrester bagged a consolation point for the visitors, before Galway lost goal-scorer Cummins to a Black card deep into injury-time.
B O’Donoghue; J Duane, F Hanley, C Sweeney; L Silke, G O’Donnell (0-1), G Bradshaw (0-1); F Ó Curraoin, T Flynn; G Sice (0-7, 7f), P Conroy (0-2, 2f), M Lundy; P Óg Ó Griofa, D Comer, D Cummins (1-0). Subs: P Sweeney for Ó GrÃofa (46); S Walsh for Conroy (65); S Denvir for Lundy (69); A Varley for Comer (69); for Cummins (Black 73).
T Mallon; O Duffy, B Rogers, D McBride; L McGoldrick, C McKaigue, SL McGoldrick; N Holly, F Doherty; B Heron (0-2, 2f), M Lynch, E Lynn; D Heavron (0-3), E Bradley (0-1), C O’Boyle (0-1). Subs: N McKaigue for Rogers (Black 29); E McGuckin for Lynch (HT); P Bradley for Holly (53); M McIver for L McGoldrick (53); N Forrester (0-1) for Lynn (60); C Murphy for Heavron (Black 69).
Conor Lane (Cork)
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