Galway 1-27 Laois 2-15
Galway get their Division 1B campaign off to a winning start at Pearse Stadium yesterday, as Joe Canning and Cathal Mannion led the way to a decisive victory. Eddie Brennan’s Laois offered a little resistance but the game was over by the time they got moving. Galway's Cathal Mannion played superbly in his new midfield role and his brother Padraic played dominantly as a sweeper in the backs. The Tribesmen led by 1-15 to 0-7 at the interval. Canning again played an important role in the Galway team, which started with just four of the side which were lined out in the All-Ireland final against Limerick last August.
Davey Glennon scored the Galway goal after 25 minutes following a good move which put them 1-12 to 0-4 in front. PJ Scully scored five frees in the opening half for Laois but their hopes of a good start in the second half were weakened when Galway hit the opening three points after the interval. The Tribesmen led by 1-24 to 0-9 with ten minutes remaining before Laois finally rallied with Mark Kavanagh leading the way with a string of points. Corner-forward John Lennon got a goal on the hour and also found the net in the closing stages. But Galway were never threathened throughout the match, although they lost their shape after making changes to the team and introducing substitutions. All of the six forwards that started found the target on the day and led to ten scorers and manager Micheál Donoghue will be expected to experiment further next week when they head to play Carlow.
Galway: Fergal Flannery; Jack Grealish, Ronan Burke, Sean Linnane; Kevin Hussey, Padraic Mannion (0-01), Aidan Harte (0-01); Cathal Mannion (0-04), Sean Loftus (0-02); Jack Coyne (0-01), Joe Canning (0-10, 0-08 frees, 0-01 ’65), Seán Blehane (0-02); Tomás Monaghan (0-02), Brian Concannon (0-01), Davy Glennon (1-02). Subs: Ronan O’Meara for Coyne (57), Jack Fitzpatrick for Harte (58), Sean Kilduff for Canning (59), Shane Bannon for Grealish (64), Tadhg Haran (0-01, free) for Monaghan (69)
Laois: Enda Rowland; Donncha Hartnett, Matthew Whelan, Joe Phelan; Jack Kelly (0-02), Ryan Mullaney, Padraig Delaney; PJ Scully (0-06, 0-06 frees), Conor Phelan; John Lennon (2-00), Mark Kavanagh (0-04, 0-04 frees), Éanna Lyons; Paddy Purcell (0-01), Aaron Dunphy (0-01), Stephen Maher. Subs: Sean Downey for Delaney (42), Neil Foyle for Maher (50), Charles Dwyer (0-01) for Scully (58), Aaron Bergin for Lyons (60), Jake Cranny for Phelan (69)
After the match, Sean Walsh spoke to Galway manager Micheál Donoghue:
https://galwaybayfmsports.podbean.com/mf/play/6xh94c/MICHAEL_DONOGHUE_POST_LAOIS.mp3
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