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Details

Date Time Competition Season
8 May 2022 3:30 pm Connacht SFC 2022

Match Report

Galway cruise to Connacht Final

Galway comfortably advanced to the Connacht Championship decider with a 23 point win over Leitrim, who failed to cause an upset at Pearse Stadium today.

The defensive plan from Andy Moran worked in the early stages as Leitrim frustrated Galway with turnovers. However 20 minutes in they started pull away after sorting out their poor shot selection with Cillian McDaid scoring a brilliant 0-3 and Shane Walsh scoring the same amount in the first half

The Tribesmen scored four second half goals to build on a 0-12 to 0-5 half-time lead, as Patrick Kelly, Niall Daly and Owen Gallagher all hit the net rounding off a forgettable afternoon for Leitrim as the game finished a whopping 4-20 to 0-9.

There were no surprises this afternoon at a windy Salthill as Padraic Joyce’s team reach another provincial final. Everyone knew how Moran would have to set Leitrim up but in the opening minutes it was effective as his side were level with 13 minutes gone thanks to disciplined man-marking.

Early points from Donal Wrynn and Ciaran Cullen had them up by one and as the hosts struggled for shot selection and the Wild Rose County found an air of confidence. However this was partly down to the breeze troubling Galway and soon they would pull away into expectancy.

Three long-range points from an exceptional McDaid proved to be the perfect weapon to combat the visitors’ deep defence. 0-2 from his midfield partner Paul Conroy and Walsh’s trusty frees got Joyce’s men into rhythm.

Ryan O’Rourke’s 0-2 and a Conor Dolan point made it a respectable first period for Leitrim. It was 0-12 to 0-5 at the break, which was probably already too big of a gap for the away team.

Substitute Patrick Kelly had a productive day after coming on in the first half and kicking a score as well as finding the game’s first goal straight into the second half. From this moment it really became a non-event.

It headed into a period where Walsh picked away with more accurate frees and the Salthill outfit began to relax. Kelly made his tally 2-1 scoring again in the 52nd minute and Joyce began to take off some key men with Roscommon in the final being a certainty at that stage.

Niall Daly got a third goal after a lovely sequence of passing and points from Dessie Coneely and John Daly followed. Owen Gallagher’s goal at the death made it 4-20 to 0-9.

Points from Leitrim’s Keith Beirne helped them take four points in the second-half but ultimately they couldn’t deal with Galway’s plethora of 12 scorers and the Tribsemen reached the JJ Nestor Cup final with ease.

They meet the Rossies on May 29th.

Galway
1Connor Gleeson Goalkeeper
2Liam Silke Defender
3Sean Kelly Defender
4Jack Glynn Defender
5Dylan McHugh Defender
6John Daly Defender 65'
7Kieran Molloy Defender
8Paul Conroy 25 Midfielder 10'
9Cillian McDaid Midfielder 2', 14', 24'
10Finnian Ó Laoí 21 Forward 42'
11Matthew Tierney 23 Forward 45'
12Johnny Heaney 20 Forward 15'
13Robert Finnerty Forward 10', 30', 46'
14Damien Comer 26 Forward
15Shane Walsh Forward 22', 33', 35', 55', 58', 60'
16James Keane Goalkeeper
17John McGrath
18Cathal Sweeney
19Billy Mannion Defender
20Niall Daly 12 62'
62'
21Patrick Kelly 10 Forward 39', 52'
31'
22Paul Kelly Midfielder
23Owen Gallagher 11 Forward 73'
24Cormac McWalter Forward
25Dessie Conneely 8 Forward 63'
26Tomo Culhane 14

Leitrim
1Brendan Flynn Goalkeeper
2Mark Diffley Defender
3Donal Casey Defender
4Paddy Maguire Defender
17Conor Reynolds Defender 27'
6Shane Quinn 18 Defender
7David Bruen Defender
8Donal Wrynn Midfielder 4'
9Pearce Dolan Midfielder
10Conor Dolan 22 Forward 20'
11Mark Plunkett 21 Forward
12Riordan O’Rourke Forward 40'
13Ryan O’Rourke Forward 12', 32'
14Shane Moran 23 Forward 36'
24Ciaran Cullen 26 Defender 9'
5James Rooney Defender
15Domhnaill Flynn Forward
16Nevin O’Donnell Goalkeeper
18Cillian McGloin 6 Midfielder
19Emlyn Mulligan Forward
20Conor Farrell Defender
21Evan Sweeney 11 Forward
22Dean McGovern 10 Forward
23Keith Beirne 14 Forward 46', 70'
25Jack Heslin Defender
26Tom Prior 24 Forward 71'

Timeline

Cillian McDaid 2' 
 4' Donal Wrynn
 9' Ciaran Cullen
Paul Conroy 10' 
Robert Finnerty 10' 
 12' Ryan O'Rourke
Cillian McDaid 14' 
Johnny Heaney 15' 
 20' Conor Dolan
Shane Walsh 22' 
Cillian McDaid 24' 
 27' Conor Reynolds
Finnian Ó Laoí
Patrick Kelly		28' 
Robert Finnerty 30' 
Patrick Kelly 31' 
 32'Ciaran Cullen
Tom Prior
 32' Ryan O'Rourke
Shane Walsh 33' 
Shane Walsh 35' 
 36'Shane Moran
Keith Beirne
 36' Shane Moran
Patrick Kelly 39' 
 40' Riordan O'Rourke
Finnian Ó Laoí 42' 
 43'Conor Dolan
Dean McGovern
Matthew Tierney 45' 
Robert Finnerty 46' 
 46' Keith Beirne
 50'Shane Quinn
Cillian McGloin
Johnny Heaney
Niall Daly		50' 
Matthew Tierney
Owen Gallagher		50' 
Patrick Kelly 52' 
Shane Walsh 55' 
Damien Comer
Tomo Culhane		58' 
 58'Mark Plunkett
Evan Sweeney
Shane Walsh 58' 
Paul Conroy
Dessie Conneely		60' 
Shane Walsh 60' 
Niall Daly 62' 
Niall Daly 62' 
Dessie Conneely 63' 
John Daly 65' 
 70' Keith Beirne
 71' Tom Prior
Owen Gallagher 73' 

  • Full-time in Salthill and it finishes 4-20 to 0-9. Galway meet Roscommon in the final on May 29th

  • 73'

    Gallagher with a goal right at the death for Galway

  • 71'

    Prior with a score off the bench

  • 70'

    Beirne with another score for Moran's defeated men

  • 65'

    John Daly gets a well deserved score

  • 63'

    Conneely kicks over straight away

  • 62'

    Niall Daly scores 1-1 in quick succession off the bench. He follows up a score immediately with the third goal as his shot deflected in off Riordan O'Rourke

  • 60'

    Walsh scores again with a free while Conroy is replaced by Dessie Coneely

  • 58'

    Subs for both teams. Evan Sweeney comes on for Mark Plunkett for Leitrim and Comer is replaced by Tom Culhane for the hosts

  • 58'

    Walsh makes no mistake scoring his fifth free

  • 55'

    Walsh puts over his fourth from the hands

  • 52'

    Patrick Kelly with another goal after a lovely Galway sequence rounded off by his batted fist into the Leitrim net

  • 50'

    Double sub for the Salthill outfit as Owen Gallagher and Niall Daly replace Heaney and Tierney

  • 46'

    Keith Byrne kicks over for Leitrim but Finnerty scores his third to make it 1-15 to 0-7

  • 45'

    Tierney with a score

  • 43'

    Dolan comes off as Dean McGovern enters the fray

  • 42'

    Finnian O'Laoi scores

  • 40'

    Riordan O' Rourke responds with a score

  • 39'

    Sub Kelly has the ball in the net after it dropped into the square from a Walsh free. A huge blow for Leitrim

  • We're back underway here

  • We've reached the interval at Pearse Stadium and Padraic Joyce's Galway lead 0-12 to Leitrim's commendable 0-5. Andy Moran's game plan worked brilliantly in the early stages as the visitors frustrated the Tribesmen with turnovers and generally good defending. However Galway stayed calm and got into rhythm after about 20 minutes as they started to pull away slightly.

  • 35'

    Conroy kicks over brilliantly as Galway pull away

  • 35'

    Walsh off the hands with another free for his third score

  • 33'

    Walsh kicks over a free from close range as Galway reach double digits

  • 32'

    Ryan O'Rourke scores again for the Wild Roses

  • 31'

    A great pass by John Daly finds substitute Kelly who fists over

  • 30'

    Finnerty with another point to make the difference four approaching half-time

  • 28'

    Patrick Kelly comes on for Finnian O'Laoi who suffers a head injury

  • 26'

    Finnerty drops an effort short into the hands of Brendan Flynn

  • 24'

    McDaid with a third distance kick

  • 22'

    Walsh gets his first score for Galway as its now 0-6 to 0-4

  • 20'

    Conor Dolan kicks over to bring it back to a one point difference

  • 18'

    Moran's men slightly frustrating the home team with valiant defending and many turnovers

  • 16'

    Damien Comer with Galway's third wide

  • 15'

    John Heaney with his opening score to make it 0-5 to 0-3

  • 14'

    McDaid with a corker to get his second score of the afternoon

  • 12'

    Ryan O'Rourke levels it again from a Leitrim free

  • 10'

    Conroy equalises with a score and then Robbie Finnerty follows up to put the Tribesmen back ahead

  • 9'

    Leitrim ahead now as Cullen scores

  • 8'

    Johnny McGrath comes on for Liam Silke who has a nose bleed

  • 6'

    The defensive plan of the visitors working well early on. Galway seeing some poor shot selection too

  • 4'

    Donal Wrynn catches a mark and sticks it over for Leitrim. A point a piece now

  • 2'

    McDaid gets Galway off the mark from range

  • And we're off in Salthill!

  • There's two late changes for the Wild Rose County. Conor Reynolds has come in at right half-back for James Rooney and the lively Ciaran Cullen replaces Domhnaill Flynn at corner forward

  • It is a familiar line-up for the Tribesmen. Captain Sean Kelly starts at full-back with Paul Conroy and Cillian McDaid in midfield. The prolific Damien Comer and Shane Walsh are part of the full forward line

  • Will it be a routine win for Padraic Joyce's team or win Andy Moran's Leitrim pull off a historic victory and reach a rare provincial final. Galway have won the last five championship meetings between the two and come into the game following an impressive quarter final win over Mayo. However Leitrim also have some momentum after beating London and the pressure is somewhat off them as such clear underdogs

  • Con Sheehan here providing live updates for todays Connacht semi-final between Galway and Leitrim. Throw-in is 3:30 pm at Pearse Stadium

Venue

Pearse Stadium
Pearse Stadium, Doctor Mannix Road, Rockbarton, Galway City, County Galway, Connacht, H91 A3W9, Ireland

21 year old sports journalist from Drogheda. Student at Dublin City University. Drogheda United Correspondent for FinalWhistle.ie