A game of high quality
at the picturesque Maghera venue saw
Derry and Galway share the spoils and so
remain in contention to qualify for the
Allianz NFL Division One final. Playing
with the advantage of a fresh breeze,
the home side made the brighter start
and were 0-06 to 0-01 up after 17
minutes with Paddy Bradley contributing
0-04 for the northerners. However, Galway
eventually found their rhythm and
Michael Meehan fired over four points to
leave his side trailing by a 0-06 to
0-05 with a half an hour gone. In a
flowing move involving Padraig Joyce and
Meehan, Paul Conroy received a sublime
pass and his shot managed to beat Derry
custodian John Deighan for a Galway goal
and the westerners were ahead for the
first time. However, Bradley, who
finished the half with six points, hit
over a leveling score for Derry to
leave the game delicately poised at the
break - 1-05 to 0-08.The resumption saw
no let up in the competitive nature of
the tie, but scores were hard to come by
with Paul Young & Paul Conroy exchanging
points, and Derry doing most of the
pressing. However, against the run of
play, Galway struck for their second
goal when Meehan fired home a penalty to
put them 2-06 to 0-09 ahead. The home
side did not panic and points from Paddy
Bradley, Paul Cartin and Enda Muldoon
had the sides level. With three minutes
to go, Meehan edged the Tribesmen ahead
again, but Derry were not to be denied,
and Enda Muldoon kicked over his second
point to ensure parity with two rounds
to go in this year's League.
