Kickout work pays off for Galway, says Finnerty

Shane Walsh of Galway, 14, celebrates with team-mates Robert Finnerty, 13, and Seán Kelly after scoring a two-pointer. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Galway 3-21 Kildare 0-17

Galway forward Rob Finnerty said they worked on a couple of areas after the Connacht final loss to Roscommon and were pleased to hit the ground running in the opening round of the All-Ireland SFC title race with an impressive victory over Kildare.

Finnerty led the way with a haul of 1-9 from play in a shooting masterclass. He landed five points, the first off his right boot inside half a minute and the others off his trusty left, in the opening half when playing against the wind.

They were in the driving seat when they led by 2-8 to 0-12 at the break thanks to goals from Matthew Tierney and Céin D’Arcy, and they pushed on from there, with Finnerty fisting home their third goal in addition to landing a couple of superb two-pointers.

“It’s a fresh competition and can be a bit hard to explain to people, but we know now if we win one more game we are in a quarter-final,” said Finnerty.

“We obviously took a few things from the Connacht final that we wanted to work on and that we were going to go after. And we did that very well, so we take a bit of pride in that, and we’re happy.”

Kickouts were a problem for Galway in the Connacht final loss to Roscommon, but they hounded Kildare on their kicks and found their man on their own with Connor Gleeson — in for the injured Conor Flaherty — delivering well.

“That was definitely something we were disappointed with after the Connacht final. I think it was probably fairly obvious there was a lot of talk around it. We weren’t really at it on our kickout press end on their kickouts. So we obviously went after that today and put a bit of work into it the last few weeks, and it paid off.

“It was probably one of the first games this year that hasn’t really come down to the wire.

“We managed to finish it off early and get comfortable.

“The first half gave us a massive platform there and then we were very comfortable in the second half.

“We were very disappointed with the Connacht final, but we took a few bits from that game and worked on them. Kickouts were one thing, and also conceding goals, so we managed to improve that big time,” added the Salthill/Knocknacarra clubman.

The display of Cian Hernon at full-back was also key to Galway’s success, while the experience of Seán Kelly, Paul Conroy, John Maher, Shane Walsh, and, off the bench, Damien Comer was key.

Kildare, having opted to play with the wind, were unable to contain Finnerty, and the concession of the two goals in the opening half left Brian Flanagan’s men with an uphill task, despite landing four of five two-pointer attempts in the opening half when a pair from Alex Beirne and one apiece from Brian McLoughlin and Darragh Kirwan gave them hope.

Scorers for Galway: R Finnerty 1-9, S Walsh 0-6 (1x2pf, 1x2p, 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.

Scorers for Kildare: A Beirne 0-5 (2x2p, 0-1f), B McLoughlin 0-3 (1x2p), D Kirwan 0-3 (1x2p), J Robinson 0-2, K Feely 0-1, D Swords 0-1, C Dalton 0-1, B Loakman 0-1.

GALWAY: 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.

Subs: 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).

KILDARE: 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.

Subs: 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).

Referee: Paul Faloon (Down).