Page 44 - INTO THE WEST - March-April 2018

ALLIANZ NATIONAL HURLING LEAGUE
DIVISION 1B ROUND 3
EYE: Galway forward Niall Burke spots a pass against Offaly at Pearse Stadium.
Photo: Matt Browne/SPORTSFILE
Page 44 – INTO THE WEST
Cooney goals help
Galway see off
battling Offaly
Galway .............2-19 GOffaly ...............0-14
Cooney and davy Glennon aftereight minutes. That lifted the home supporters in the crowd of 5,355 but the sides were level at the end of the opening quarter at 1-4 to 0-7 after Kinsella, Egan and Currams found the range for Offaly.
By JOHN FALLON Media West Ireland
Both sides were guilty of some bad wides but Galway hit four points in a row from Sean Loftus, Paul Flaherty, Cathal Mannion and Conor Cooney.
ALWAy wrapped up a quarter-final spot in the Allianz League with a third win of the campaign against a battling Offaly side, who played the last half
damien Egan pulled back a point for Offaly but a second point from former minor captain Loftus left Galway ahead by four at the interval.
hour with 14 men.
Galway led by 1-9 to 0-8
The lead would have been bigger had Offaly goalkeeper Eoghan Cahill not produced good saves to deny Flaherty and Joseph Cooney.
at the break having played with the breeze in the open-
ing half.
Offaly needed a good
it all went wrong for Offaly after the restart when Joseph Cooney got his second goal of the game after goalkeeper Cahill had blocked an effort from Conor Cooney.
start against the All-ireland champions and they were
good value for their 0-4 o 0-2 lead after seven minutes
And then Offaly were reduced to 14 men when Shane Kinsella was sent off after an off the ball tangle with Paul Flaherty — referee Cathal McAllister consulted two of his umpires before making his decision.
with damien Egan, dan Currams, david
King and Shane Kinsella hitting
the target. Cathal
That left Offaly with a huge uphill battle as Galway opened up a 2-11 to 0-8 lead.
Mannion picked off two points for
Substitute Tommy Geraghty landed a couple of points for Offaly but Galway kept pulling away as they picked off points from all angles.
Galway and then Joseph
Cahill produced another good save to deny Glennon and while Shane dooley added a few frees for Offaly when he came on but they never looked like staging a big comeback.
Cooney scored the
opening goal when he
finished a good move
Galway goalkeeper James Skehill saved a penalty from dooley in the closing stages after Conor Mahon was adjudged to have been fouled as the Tribesmen made it three wins in a row in the campaign.
involving Conor
SCORERS – Galway: Joseph Cooney 2-1, Conor Cooney 0-7 (4fs), Cathal Mannion 0-5, Seán Loftus 0- 3, Paul Flaherty 0-2, Niall Burke 0-1.
Offaly: Damien Egan 0-3 (3fs), Dan Currams 0-3, Tommy Geraghty 0-3, Shane Kinsella 0-2, Shane Dooley 0-2 (2fs), David King 0-1.
GALWAY: J Skehill; A Tuohy, P Mannion, S Bannon; S Cooney, G McInerney, A Harte; J Coen, S Loftus; J Cooney, C Mannion, P Flaherty; C Whelan, C Cooney, D Glennon. Subs: N Burke for J Cooney (39), B Concannon for Whelan (52), B Flaherty for Harte (59), J Coyne for Glennon (69).
OFFALY: E Cahill; B Conneely, S Gardiner, T Spain; D O’Toole, P Camon, J Quinn; D King, P Delaney; C Gath, S Kinsella, O Kelly; D Egan, C Mahon, D Currams. Subs: D Shortt for Quinn (36), T Geraghty for Delaney (36), C Egan for Gath (48), S Dooley for King (52), J Bergin for Kelly (65).
REFEREE: Cathal McAllister (Cork).