Supporters look on during the Connacht GAA Football Senior Championship quarter-final match between New York and Galway at Gaelic Park in New York, USA. Photo by Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile.
Connacht Senior Football Championship quarter-final
Galway 3-28 New York 0-20
By Mike Finnerty at Gaelic Park
The result may never have been in doubt, but New York lost very little in defeat in this Connacht SFC quarter-final at Gaelic Park.
The Exiles gave as good as they got during the opening half of an entertaining contest, but Galway eventually clicked into gear during the second period and pulled away to win convincingly.
Goals from Cian Hernon and Matthew Tierney did a lot of the damage to New York’s hopes of staying in contention, as the defending champions set up a semi-final showdown with Roscommon in a fortnight.
Padraic Joyce’s team shot 2-16 in the second half and held the underdogs to just 0-8, with the likes of the aforementioned Tierney, captain Seán Kelly and debutant Matthew Thompson playing leading roles.
But Galway had only led at half-time by 1-12 to 0-12 thanks to Matthew Tierney’s fifth minute goal as New York stayed in contention thanks to a couple of superbly-struck two point frees from Frank O’Reilly and a stunning two point effort from play from James Walsh.
The Tribesmen, in contrast, struggled to get their attack firing in the absence of the likes of Shane Walsh and Damien Comer, who weren’t included in the match-day squad.
The pick of Galway’s score in that opening period came from Finnian Ó Laoi, Kieran Molloy, Daniel O’Flaherty (2) and the stylish Matthew Thompson.
Galway’s help wasn’t helped either in that opening half by an ankle injury to All Star midfielder, John Maher, that forced him off.
However, last year’s All-Ireland finalists upped the ante after the restart, and a goal from Cian Hernon on 53 minutes proved to be a crucial score, leaving eight points between the teams.
Matthew Tierney’s second goal seven minutes later ended the game as a contest as Galway freewheeled home and the likes of Cillian McDaid, substitute Liam Ó Conghaile (2), Paul Conroy (with a two-point effort from a free) and goalkeeper Conor Flaherty (who nailed a two-pointer with the last kick of the game) were all on target.
New York were competitive for long spells of an entertaining contest with Kildare native Jack Robinson catching the eye up front, shooting five points from play.
Former Clare defender Cian O’Dea, Donal Hunt and Kieran Murphy from Kerry, and place-kicker Frank O’Reilly also stood out at times.
Galway will now meet Roscommon in the provincial semi-final in two weeks’ time while New York’s attention will turn to the Tailteann Cup.
Scorers for Galway: Matthew Tierney 2-4 (0-2, 1tpf 1f), Robert Finnerty 0-6 (0-3f tpf, 1 45), Cian Hernon 1-0, Matthew Thompson (0-3), Daniel O’Flaherty 0-2, Conor Flaherty 0-2 (1tp), Liam Ó Conghaile 0-2, Seán Kelly 0-2, Paul Conroy 0-2 (1tpf), Kieran Molloy 0-1, John Maher 0-1, Cillian McDaid 0-1, Brian Mannion 0-1, Finnian Ó Laoi 0-1
Scorers for New York: Frank O’Reilly 0-7 (3tpfs, 1f), Jack Robinson 0-5, Bobby O’Regan 0-4 (2fs, 1tpf), James Walsh 0-2 (1tp), Kieran Murphy 0-1, Cian O’Dea 0-1,
Galway: Conor Flaherty; Johnny McGrath, Seán Fitzgerald, Jack Glynn; Kieran Molloy, Seán Kelly, Cian Hernon; Matthew Tierney, John Maher; Matthew Thompson, Cillian McDaid, Daniel O’Flaherty; Brian Mannion, Robert Finnerty, Finnian Ó Laoi.
Subs: Paul Conroy for Maher 22, inj; Cathal Sweeney for Ó Laoi 42, Cein Darcy for Mannion 42, Liam Ó Conghaile for O’Flaherty (60), Patrick Egan for Molloy 60.
New York: Joey Grace; Cian O’Dea, Seán Wilson, Noel Hatton; Donal Hunt, Rob Wharton, James Walsh; Eoghan McElligot, Kieran Murphy; Tiarnan Mathers, Frank O’Reilly, Shane Brosnan; Jack Robinson, Adam Loughlin Stones, Bobby O’Regan.
Subs: Tadhg O’Riordan for Hatton 44; Michael Argue for Mathers 53; Killian Butler for O’Loughlin Stones 44; Matthew Queenan for Hunt 62; Michael McCarthy for Walsh 62.
Referee: Joe McQuillan (Cavan)
