Page 13 - INTO THE WEST - March-April 2018

ALLIANZ NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION 1 FINAL
14-man Dublin prevail in league decider
for Galway.
But it was dublin who pushed on,
shooting three in a row from rock, Mannion and Basquel to lead by 0-12 to
Tribesmen were given real hope when niall Scully was sent off when he picked
Dublin .................0-18 Galway ................0-14
dublin tried to exploit space as Galway pushed forward in big numbers and efforts from niall Scully and Ciaran Kilkenny put two between them before Comer reduced the margin to the minimum at
up a second yellow card for a foul on Conroy.
McHugh pointed a free and then Walsh tied the game 16 minutes from the
d By JOHN GRAHAM Media West Ireland
end as the big Galway crowd sensed the possibility of a fifth league title.
0-9 after 45 minutes.
Shane Walsh cut the gap and then the
However, they couldn’t get ahead, with rock and Comer exchanging points before Lavelle produced a stunning save
UBLin had to play the final 20 minutes with 14 men but did enough to hold out and win their 13th Allianz
to deny rock.
The dublin sharpshooter pointed the
resultant 45 and Kilkenny doubled their lead with nine minutes left.
Football League title against a game Galway side in an entertaining final at Croke Park.
the end of the opening quarter.
Comer landed a superb point after 65 minutes but that was as close as
The sides were level five times in the opening half and it was no surprise when they went in deadlocked at 0-8 each.
McHugh pointed
they got as dublin pushed for home with efforts from Philly McMahon and
another free after Comer
was again fouled and
then McHugh kicked a
superb effort from play to put the Tribesmen ahead for the first time after 21
Eric Lowndes putting them a goal in front before rock sealed it with a
dublin, playing with the breeze, only trailed once in that period and it took a superb save from Galway goalkeeper ruairi Lavelle to deny the All-ireland champions a dream start when Paul Mannion shot on goal after just 15 seconds.
Eamon late free. Brannigan
tries to SCORERS – Dublin: Dean Rock 0-7
Cooper Kilkenny 0-2, Colm Basquel 0-2, Niall Scully 0-1, John Small 0-1,
And while dean rock and Mannion edged dublin two points ahead in the opening three minutes, Galway settled and started to build some good moves and got off the mark when damien Comer was fouled and Barry McHugh converted the resultant free.
Photo: Daire Brennan / SPORTSFILE.
Philly McMahon 0-1, E Lowndes
0-1.
Galway: Barry McHugh 0-6 (5f),
reach the ball (5f, 1’45) Paul Mannion 0-3, Ciaran ahead of Jonny
minutes.
dublin hit back and struck three in a
Damien Comer 0-3, Shane Walsh 0-2 (1f), Johnny Heaney 0-2, Paul Conroy 0-1.
DUBLIN: S Cluxton; P McMahon, M Fitzsimons, D Byrne; J McCarthy, J Cooper, J Small; B Fenton, M D Macauley; B Howard, K McManamon, N Scully; D Rock, C Kilkenny, P Mannion. Subs: E Lowndes for McCarthy (35), C Basquel for McManamon (ht), E Murchan for J Small (39), C O’Callaghan for MacAuley (54), S Carthy for Mannion (68), J Small for McMahon (72)
GALWAY: R Lavelle; D Kyne, S A O Ceallaigh, E Kerin; G Bradshaw, C Sweeney, J Heaney; P Cooke, C Duggan; E Brannigan, P Conroy, S Kelly; B McHugh, D Comer, S Walsh. Subs: G O’Donnell for Heaney (61), T Flynn for Cooke (67), P Sweeney for Conroy (67), A Varley for Walsh (69), J Duane for Bradshaw (69).
REFEREE: Anthony Nolan (Wicklow).
Wing-back Johnny Heaney continued his superb form in this league campaign when he went forward for Galway to level the sides after ten minutes.
row with Mannion forcing Lavelle to tip a shot over the bar while rock punished mistakes by Eoghan Kerin and Heaney with pointed frees.
Galway's Peter Cooke attacks Michael Fitzsimons and david Byrne in the dublin defence
Galway finished the half strongly with Heaney getting his second point and a surging run from Paul Conroy sending them in level at the end of the opening half.
John Small responded for dublin before another foul on Comer presented McHugh with another opportunity and he duly pointed the free.
Colm Basquel made a big impact when he was introduced at the break, edging them in front within a minute of the restart before McHugh again levelled with a free
Galway players in action in the NFL final - Declan Kyne, Damien Comer and Barry McHugh. Photos: SPORTSFILE
INTO THE WEST – Page 13