Senior Footballers overcome Galway at Pearse Stadium

DUBLIN 0-22

GALWAY 0-14

Dublin recorded their fourth successive victory in Division 1 of the Allianz National Football League when getting the better of Galway by eight points at a typically damp and blustery Pearse Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

In doing so, the Dubs took another progressive step towards a final berth and their earlier losses to Monaghan and Mayo seem a distant memory given the control that they exerted over the hosts for the large part.

A string of six points in the space of ten minutes left Dublin well placed by the end of the first quarter and they retained their dominance as they enjoyed a healthy 0-10 to 0-6 interval lead.

While the hosts cut their deficit in the early stages of the second-half, they proved powerless to prevent Dublin from pushing on with another blitz of seven points inside eleven minutes effectively settling the issue.

Cillian Ó Curraoin opened the scoring in the 2^nd minute but the influential Sean Bugler soon had the teams level after a trademark burst and strike.

While Ó Curraoin briefly restored Galway’s lead, Dublin weren’t long in restoring parity as Tom Lahiff split the uprights, a score that prompted a flurry of scores at the home end.

Ross McGarry handed Dublin the lead for the first time in the 6^th minute and a fisted effort saw Con O’Callaghan doubled their advantage before the same player converted a straightforward free following a foul on Killian O’Gara.

Another O’Callaghan gave further evidence of Dublin’s dominance and Galway’s increased ill-discipline before Johnny McGrath ended the home barren run with his team’s first score from play in the 15^th minute.

With the aid of the breeze, Dublin regained their four-point buffer through Killian McGinnis and Bugler’s second point of the half was just reward for his enterprise in attack.

The hosts came back into the game through Ó Curraoin’s first score from play at the start of the second quarter and there was slight momentum shift when Rory Cunningham added another Galway score by the 21^st minute.

Dublin weren’t quite so efficient for the remainder of the half but still managed further scores by McGinnis and Brian Fenton as they entered the break with a four point lead.

The powerful Ó Curraoin added cause for optimism with a fine point early upon the restart but McGarry was afforded far too much space at the opposite end as he popped over with relative ease.

While Ó Curraoin enhanced his display with another point soon after, Dublin’s patience in possession was beginning to take effect with the returning Evan Comerford converting an excellent free from 45 metres.

Ciaran Kilkenny was kept relatively quiet throughout but slipped away to pop over while Cathal Sweeney took the handier option of a point at the opposite end when Galway may well have looked to work a goal.

Another O’Callaghan free and a Lahiff score from O’Callaghan’s pass saw Dublin restamp their supremacy on the encounter and the Cuala star put further daylight between the teams when converting a tricky ‘mark’ in the 54^th minute.

The contest petered out to a degree from that point with Galway popping over some consolation points through substitute Liam Ó Conghaile and Jack McCabe.

However, Dublin finished the game how they had started with late points from O’Callaghan and Bugler completing a satisfactory afternoon’s work for the visitors.

Scorers – Dublin: C O’Callaghan 0-9 (5f, 1 mark), S Bugler 0-3, T Lahiff, R McGarry, K McGinnis 0-2 each; E Comerford (f), B Fenton, C Kilkenny, C Basquel 0-1 apiece. Galway: C Ó Curraoin 0-8 (5f), J McGrath, J Heaney, C Sweeney, R Cunningham, L Ó Conghaile, J McCabe 0-1 apiece.

Dublin: E Comerford; D Newcombe, S MacMahon, C Murphy; K McGinnis, B Howard, J Small; B Fenton, T Lahiff; R McGarry, S Bugler, C Kilkenny; K O’Gara, C O’Callaghan, N Scully. Subs: C Basquel for O’Gara (48), J McCaffrey for McGinnis (51), P Mannion for McGarry (55), L O’Dell for Scully (55), T Clancy for MacMahon (68).

Galway: C Gleeson; J McGrath, S Fitzgerald, S Mulkerrin; E Kelly, J Daly, D O’Flaherty; C D’Arcy, J Meagher; J Heaney, D McHugh, C Sweeney; C Ó Curraoin, N Daly, R Cunningham. Subs: P Conroy for N Daly (half-time), J Glynn for O’Flaherty (48), L Ó Conghaile for D’Arcy (57), J McCabe for Cunningham (57), P Egan for Heaney (61).

Referee: Brendan Cawley (Kildare).