Galway 'happy to get out of here with the win' following second half surge past spirited New York
Galway’s Matthew Tierney scored 2-4 in his side's Connacht SFC quarter-final victory over New York. Pic: ©INPHO/Emily Harney
Time will tell if this turns out to be Galway’s first step on a journey that leads all the way to Croke Park at the end of July, but Padraic Joyce admitted that he was ‘delighted’ to leave New York with a victory after Sunday’s entertaining Connacht SFC quarter-final.
Two goals from Matthew Tierney and Cian Hernon proved to be decisive scores as the Tribesmen pulled away during the second half to run out comfortable winners in front of a crowd of approximately 6,000 at Gaelic Park in The Bronx.
Galway will now meet Roscommon in the provincial semi-final in two weeks’ time.
A well-prepared New York outfit gave last year’s All-Ireland finalists plenty to think about during the opening half, and went in at the interval trailing by just three points.
But Galway took control of the contest during the third quarter and went on to shoot 2-16 over the course of an impressive half’s work as New York’s lack of match practice finally caught up with them.
Joyce was without some of the pillars of the team that he has been building for the last few years, like Shane Walsh, Damien Comer, Dylan McHugh and Liam Silke due to ‘knocks and niggles’, but he admitted that he was pleased that championship debutants like Conor Flaherty, Brian Mannion and Matthew Thompson, in particular, showed flashes of their ability.
“Overall, we’d be happy to get out of here with the win, but we made a few silly mistakes in the first half, we didn’t mind the ball, but we tightened up in the second half,” the Galway manager said afterwards.
“New York were very very competitive, and they caused us plenty if problems in the first half.
“We’ll take some confidence out of the display after half-time, we put up a good score, and it was nice to see some lads who got their opportunities taking them.
“We made plenty of mistakes but we’ll work on them over the next few weeks and start focussing on Roscommon once we get back to Ireland.”
Galway only led at half-time by 1-12 to 0-12 thanks to Matthew Tierney’s fifth minute goal as New York stayed in contention thanks to a couple of superbly-struck two point frees from Frank O’Reilly and a stunning two point effort from play from James Walsh.
The Tribesmen, in contrast, struggled to fire on all cylinders as New York proved to be well-drilled and organised opponents, who had done their homework on their visitors.
The pick of Galway’s score in that opening period came from Finnian Ó Laoi, Kieran Molloy, Daniel O’Flaherty (2) and debutant Matthew Thompson.
New York manager Ronan McGinley had picked an athletic team with the likes of Cian O’Dea, Rob Wharton and Donal Hunt driving into the Galway half, and setting up scoring chances for lively forwards Jack Robinson and Bobby O’Regan.
Galway’s help wasn’t helped either in that opening half by an ankle injury to All Star midfielder, John Maher, that forced him off.
However, the raging hot favourites upped the ante in the second half with a goal from Cian Hernon on 53 minutes helping to break New York’s spirited resistance, and leaving eight points between the teams.
Tierney’s second goal seven minutes later ended the game as a contest as Galway freewheeled home and the likes of Cillian McDaid, substitute Liam Ó Conghaile (2), Paul Conroy (with a two-point effort from a free) and goalkeeper Conor Flaherty (who nailed a two-pointer with the last kick of the game) all on target.
New York were competitive for long spells of an entertaining contest, and their manager Ronan McGinley said he was ‘extremely proud’ of their performance.
“The work that the players put in during the first half, the effort they put in, was phenomenal.
“We put in a huge effort to wrestle back control during the first half.
“Galway’s greater experience and their match play experience really showed in the second half. We were doing a lot right but then when you looked up at the scoreboard, they were pulling away by 10 or 15 points.
“It just shows you how quickly a game can get away from you.
“But I’m really proud of every one of our lads, they put in a phenomenal effort and hopefully it will set us up for a good performance in the Tailteann Cup now.” Kildare native Jack Robinson caught the eye up front, shooting five points from play.
Former Clare defender Cian O’Dea, Donal Hunt and Kieran Murphy from Kerry, and place-kicker Frank O’Reilly also stood out at times.
C Flaherty (0-2, tp); J McGrath, S Fitzgerald, J Glynn; K Molloy (0-1), S Kelly (0-2), C Hernon (1-0); M Tierney (2-4, 1f, 1 tpf), J Maher (0-1); M Thompson (0-3), C McDaid (0-1), D O’Flaherty (0-2); Brian Mannion (0-1), R Finnerty (0-6, 3fs), F Ó Laoi (0-1).
P Conroy (0-2, tpf) for Maher (22, inj); C Sweeney for Ó Laoi (42); C Darcy for Mannion (42); L Ó Conghaile (0-2) for O’Flaherty; P Egan for Molloy (60);
J Grace; C O’Dea (0-1), S Wilson, N Hatton; D Hunt, R Wharton, J Walsh (0-2, tp); E McElligot, K Murphy (0-1); T Mathers, F O’Reilly (0-7, 3tpfs, 1f), S Brosnan; J Robinson (0-5), A Loughlin Stones, B O’Regan (0-4, 2fs, 1tpf).
T O’Riordan for Hatton (44); M Argue for Mathers (53); K Butler for O’Loughlin Stones (44); M Queenan for Hunt (62); M McCarthy for Walsh (62).
J McQuillan (Cavan)
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