14-man Galway have enough to see off Monaghan

The visitors only managed two pointed frees from goalkeeper Rory Beggan in the second half.

Galway's Eoghan Kelly is tackled. Picture: INPHO/Ben Brady

Galway 1-13 

Monaghan 0-10 

Galway, despite being down to 14 men for the second half, still had sufficient firepower to secure their second win of the campaign in Salthill.

Monaghan failed to use the extra man and only managed two pointed frees from goalkeeper Rory Beggan after the restart, shooting eight wides in the process in front of a crowd of 5,275.

The sides were level six times in the opening half but Monaghan, backed by the breeze, went in leading by 0-8 to 0-7 at the interval.

Galway were reduced to 14 men just before the interval when Peter Cooke, after being held down by Monaghan’s Michael Bannigan, retaliated and was sent off by Cork referee Conor Lane.

The sides exchanged points three times in the opening quarter with Sean Jones getting Monaghan’s opening two points as Paul Conroy and Matthew Tierney hit the target for Galway with frees from opposite sides.

Tierney landed a good effort from play after Conor McCarthy struck a free for Monaghan before goalkeeper Rory Beggan delivered a trademark free from distance.

Conroy levelled with an excellent effort before a free from him and one from Rob Finnerty put them 0-6 to 0-4 in front after 29 minutes.

Monaghan, who kept lots of men behind the ball and surged forward, got back on level terms through Cillian Lavelle and Dessie Ward before Cooke edged the Tribesmen back in front with an excellent score.

It was his last action. Bannigan equalised before his tangle with Cooke and then Beggan edged them in front with the free which resulted from the dismissal.

Beggan doubled the lead two minutes after the restart but Galway, after introducing Shane Walsh for his first action for the county in 2023, hit back with three points in a row from John Daly, Sean Kelly and Johnny Heaney, the latter two coming from good goal chances.

Another Beggan free was followed by two excellent points from Finnerty before Cathal Sweeney set up Johnny Heaney for a goal seven minutes from time after Monaghan failed to deal with a high free from Conroy and there was no way back from there for Vinnie Corey’s men.

Scorers for Galway: J Heaney 1-1, M Tierney 0-3 (0-2f), R Finnerty 0-3, P Conroy 0-3 (0-1f), S Kelly 0-1, J Daly 0-1, P Cooke 0-1.

Scorers for Monaghan: R Beggan 0-4f, S Jones 0-2, C McCarthy 0-1f, D Ward 0-1, M Bannigan 0-1, C Lavelle 0-1 Galway: C Gleeson; J McGrath, E Kelly, S Kelly; D McHugh, J Daly, D O’Flaherty; P Conroy, M Tierney; Paul Kelly, P Cooke, C Sweeney; R Finnerty, Patrick Kelly, J Heaney.

Monaghan: R Beggan; T McPhillips, K Duffy, R Wylie; C Boyle, D Ward, R O’Toole; D Hughes, C Lavelle; S O’Hanlon, M Bannigan, C McCarthy; S Jones, K Gallagher, F Kelly. Subs: S Carey for Kelly (half-time), C McManus for Jones 

Referee: Conor Lane (Cork)