Connacht U21 FC: Walsh points Galway to victory
March 23, 2013Shane Walsh was the star of the show for the tribesmen as he scored 0-6, while both sides played the entire second half with 14-men after they had a man each sent off for separate incident during the opening 30 minutes.
Despite the adverse weather conditions a good sized crowd turned out in Tuam for this match between these two great rivals.
Galway had a stiff breeze on their backs in the opening half and they made use of it in the early exchanges, but Mayo battled back and only a point separated them at the interval.
The opening score of the game came off the boot of Galway's Shane Walsh from a free and the same player got the first score from play soon after to put the tribesmen 0-2 to 0-0 ahead after just five minutes of play.
Galway dominated the early exchange and they were soon three points to the good when Adrian Varley found time and space to fire over the bar. Mayo struggled to settle and Conor Horan was yellow carded soon after.
However, in the eighth minute, they were awarded a scoreable free and Evan Regan opened his account for the afternoon to make it 0-3 to 0-1.
Cathal Mulryan and Cillian O'Connor (excellent free from near the sideline) exchanged points to make it 0-4 to 0-2 and then a crucial incident in the match when Hoban received his second yellow card of the match and he was sent off in the 19th minute.
Regan pointed his second of the match a couple of minutes later to make it a one-point game, but Mayo would have to pull out all the stops if they were going to get anything from this match or would they? Just two minutes before the break and Galway's numerical advantage was gone when Liam Silke followed Horan to the sideline after he too received his second yellow card.
This was to be the last action of the first half as Galway went in leading by 0-4 to 0-3.
Senior star O'Connor had Mayo level five minutes into the second half when he converted a free as both sides adjusted to playing 14-a-side, but at the other end Walsh hit his third of the afternoon from another placed ball.
Mayo battled hard and they drew level once again when Danny Kirby slotted over a fine score, but Galway scores seemed easier to come by as Damien Comer pointed for them to make 0-6 to 0-5 after 46 minutes. Second later and it was Walsh again who raised a white flag as he pointed to make it a two-point game.
Even though they had the aid of the breeze and plenty of possession, Mayo's wide count was costing them, but O'Connor left just one-point between the teams with a point from play, 0-7 to 0-6 and just nine minutes remaining. But as was the case numerous times during the match, Galway restored their two-point lead when the impressive Walsh kicked his fifth point, 0-8 to 0-6. The same player made it 0-9 to 0-6 and Mayo could only manage a point in replay as Galway ran out deserved victors.
Galway - T Healy; L Silke, J Shaughnessy, E Walsh; M Loughnane, D Burke, P Varley; F Ó Curraoin, D Comer (0-1); C Mulryan (0-1), S Moran, P Cunningham; S Walsh (0-6, 2f), A Varley (0-1), G Kelly. Subs: C Rabbitte for Cunningham, S Maughan for Kelly, E O hEochaidh for Moran, I Burke for A Varley, G Canavan for Comer.
Mayo - P Mannion; B Harrison, N Freeman, A Butler; C Horan, C Walsh, E Collins; D Kirby (0-1), M Forde; A Gallagher, E Regan (0-2f), F Durkan; D Coen, C O'Shea, C O'Connor (0-4, 3f). Subs: J Shaughnessy for Gallagher, E Jordan for Durkan, E Lavin for Coen, K Rutledge for Regan.
Referee - P Neilan. Tweet
