Prolific Finnerty leads Galway's Salthill saunter past Kildare
CENTRE OF ATTENTION: Shane Walsh of Galway with supporters after victory in the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship Round 1 match between Galway and Kildare at Pearse Stadium in Galway. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
Rob Finnerty produced a masterclass in shooting as ease Galway safely into the next round of the All-Ireland SFC title race with a 13-point win in Salthill.
Finnerty shot 1-9 from play as Galway bounced back from their Connacht final defeat to Roscommon.
Kildare won the toss and opted to play with the wind in the opening half but they went in trailing by 2-8 to 0-12 at the break.
Finnerty was in superb form, kicking 0-5 from play in the opening half, getting them off the mark with a point off his right boot and then kicking the others off his stronger left foot.
Galway extend their advantage further over Kildare as Rob Finnerty delivers their third goal
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A two-pointer from Brian McLoughlin got Kildare moving but they were hit with a big blow after five minutes when Matthew Tierney fisted home a goal after a good build-up involving Finnerty and Paul Conroy.
That was only Galway’s second ever goal in six championship meetings against Kildare — the other coming from manager Padráic Joyce in the 1998 All-Ireland final —but they got another one midway through the half.
A superb ball out of defence from Conroy after a good turnover from Cian Hernon and Seán Kelly sent Dylan McHugh away and his probing ball sent Céin Darcy through the middle and he finished powerfully to the net to lead by 2-4 to 0-5 after 17 minutes.
Kildare remained in contention by landing four of five two-pointer attempts. Alex Beirne got a couple of them and Darragh Kirwan also hit the range to trail by two at the interval.
Kildare, back in the All-Ireland series for the first time in three years, needed a big start to the second half but the Tailteann Cup champions were hit with a pair of two-pointers from Galway.
Finnerty got the first of them and then Shane Walsh, who had kicked a two-point free in the opening half, landed a superb effort from the left.
McLoughlin and Kirwan responded for Kildare but Galway, after drafting Damien Comer into their attack, pushed on and Finnerty finished another good move by fisting to the net after being set up by Walsh and Conroy to extend the lead to 3-13 to 0-14 after 54 minutes.
There was no way back for Kildare from there as Galway eased their way to a 13-point victory.
R Finnerty 1-9, S Walsh 0-6 (0-2pf, 0-2p, 0-1f), C Darcy 1-0, M Tierney 1-0, C McDaid 0-2, P Conroy 0-1, D Comer 0-1, S McGrath 0-1, J Maher 0-1.
A Beirne 0-5 (2x2p, 0-1f), B McLoughlin 0-3 (2p), D Kirwan 0-3 (2p), J Robinson 0-2, K Feely 0-1, D Swords 0-1, C Dalton 0-1, B Loakman 0-1.
C Gleeson; J Glynn, C Hernon, L Silke; D McHugh, S Kelly, J Daly; P Conroy, J Maher; C Darcy, C Mulhern, C McDaid; R Finnerty, M Tierney, S Walsh.
D Comer for Mulhern (45), S Ó Maolchiaráin for Hernon (54), S McGrath for Tierney (58), S McGlinchey for Conroy (62), B Cogger for McDaid (64).
E Sheehan; R Burke, M Dempsey, B Byrne; J McGrath, E Lawlor, H O’Neill; K Feely, B Gibbons; B McLoughlin, D Kirwan, C Dalton; B Loakman, A Beirne, E Cully.
J Harris for Lawlor (21), D Swords for Cully (26), J Robinson for Loakman (50), T Gill for McGrath (54), S Doran for O’Neill (66).
Paul Faloon (Down).
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