GALWAY SENIOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP - ROUND 1
GROUP 1
Corofin 1-17
Claregalway 0-10
A glance at the ten-point winning margin might suggest a stroll in the park for Corofin, it wasn’t that simple. The All-Ireland champions were comfortable enough in the end but Claregalway’s performance for the first 40 minutes showed they can certainly challenge to get out of Group 1.
Michael Farragher, who top scored with 1-4 from play, ghosted in behind the Claregalway defence before burying the day's only goal to leave Corofin five ahead, 1-4 to 0-2.
Claregalway responded well with Sean Moran, Mark Rohan, Danny Cummins, Barry Goldrick and Conor Kelly all on the mark and just four points separated the sides, 1-10 to 0-9, heading into the final third.
Kevin O’Brien’s side then hit six in a row through Martin and Michael Farragher, Gary Sice, Ronan Steede and Micheál Lundy to ease clear late on.
An Cheathrú Rua 2-6
Cortoon Shamrocks 1-7
Goals from Maitiú Ó Domhnaill and Ian Seoighe helped An Cheathrú Rua get the better of 14-man Cortoon Shamrocks in Sunday's afternoon Group 1 tie played in Clonbur.
Ó Domhnaill goal on 16 minutes saw the Connemara side ahead by 1-5 to 0-3 at the break and a great move down the left was finished by corner-back Ian Seoighe for their second.
Cortoon lost Rory Moloney to a straight red card but kept within touching distance courtesy of Martin Boyle’s excellent free-taking and by the 43rd minute had clawed it back to two points when Shane Garrett netted brilliantly before An Cheathrú Rua hung on in the closing stages.
GROUP 2
Annaghdown 2-15
Tuam Stars 1-6
Annaghdown put their credentials for a challenge in this year’s Senior Football Championship on show last Sunday as they romped to victory over Tuam Stars.
Damien Comer was the star of the show and finished with 1-7, a goal and four points of which came from play. Frankie Burke provided great support with 1-5, his goal coming from a penalty as Michael Geoghegan's team got off to a winning start in Group 2.
Jamie Murphy, Tuam’s standout player, buried a shot past Annaghdown ‘keeper James Healy to leave them 2-5 to 1-3 behind at the break, but with Comer again outstanding at the beginning of the second half, Annaghdown pulled comfortably clear.
Salthill-Knocknacarra 1-10
Killannin 0-13
Ruairí Lavelle didn’t take long endearing himself to Salthill-Knocknacarra supporters as his 50-metre free in the 63rd minute secured a well-earned Group 2 draw with Killannin in his first championship appearance for the club.
The score sealed a fine comeback from Anthony Finnerty and Maurice Sheridan’s side, who were seven points down heading into the closing 20 minutes.
Crucially, Salthill-Knocknacarra did play with a man extra during that period and the sending off of Killannin's Ruairi Greene’s towards the end of the first was the turning point of the game.
David Melia's team had bossed proceedings up to that point but Seán Armstrong’s second half goal sparked Salthill-Knocknacarra into life as they outscored Killannin 1-6 to 0-2 in the final 20 minutes.
Special mention must go to Johnny Heaney who had four points on the board in the opening 15 minutes.
GROUP 3
Mountbellew-Moylough 1-12
Kilconly 0-7
Last year’s finalists Mountbellew-Moylough were overwhelming favourites to emerge victorious in their opening Senior Football Championship Group 3 encounter with Kilconly and with Galway forward Barry McHugh top-scoring with 1-5, Michael Donnellan’s charges came away with an eight-point win.
McHugh was in fine form throughout and himself and fellow Galway senior panellist Michael Daly were buzzing in attack, particularly in the opening stages as they led by 0-10 to 0-4 at the interval.
Paul Mannion and Michael Murphy hit the bulk of Kilconly's scores but the game was put beyond all doubt in the 38th minute, when a swift counter-attack created space for McHugh to finish.
Caherlistrane 0-13
Killererin 2-7
On a weekend when the narrative rarely wandered far away from script, Killererin's draw with Caherlistrane was arguably the standout and most surprising result from the eight opening round ties played.
Second half goals from Daniel Flaherty and a brilliant Mikey Boyle effort had Jimmy Murphy's team two points in front with the finishing line in sight.
After an evening to forget in front of the posts, Caherlistrane were staring a damaging defeat in the face, but held their composure to conjure up the scores they needed, courtesy of Rory Glynn and the superb Oisín O'Brien, who kicked eight points over the hour, to earn a share of the spoils in Group 3.
GROUP 4
Milltown 4-11
Caltra 1-10
Senior Football Championship action returned to Barnaderg for the first time since 1993 on Sunday as the home of Killererin GAA played host to the Group 4 clash between Milltown and Caltra.
The teams provided a game full of commitment and endeavour, with Milltown’s late show, yielding 2-3 without reply, putting a lopsided tally on the scoreboard.
Darryl Finn’s fisted goal in the 38th minute had Caltra back to within two but from there Milltown took over and Michael Martin’s goal from the penalty spot in the 53rd minute proved the decisive score before Mark Hehir also netted in eventually shaking off the Caltra resistance.
Earlier goals from the pacey Liam Costello and Damian Brennan gave Milltown a 2-7 to 1-8 at half-time.
Monivea-Abbey 2-10
St Michael’s 1-5
Attacker Craig Kennedy scored 1-5 to inspire his Monivea-Abbey side to a comfortable victory over city club St Michael’s in the Galway Senior Football Championship Group 4 on Saturday.
Michael’s only went in a point down at half-time, 0-4 to 0-3, but the north Galway side landed the knockout blow on the 41st minute when Kennedy dispatched past Blaine Sheridan. St Michael’s never looked like recovering and were hit for a second when the lively second half substitute Brian Moran pounced.
Eddie Hoare converted a penalty to bring the deficit back to four, but it was Monivea-Abbey who finished the stronger despite shooting 17 wides.
(Photo: Ray Ryan)
