Donegal got back to winning ways
in NFL Division One tonight when ending Galway's
unbeaten run in the league at Ballybofey. Galway
will be kicking themselves though as they led 0-04
to 0-00 early on and both Padraic Joyce and Michael
Meehan missed late frees. However, with Colm
McFadden and Brian Roper impressing, the Tir
Chonaill men muscled into a 0-09 to 0-06 interval
lead. After Galway had corner-back Damien Burke
sent-off, the sides swapped goals through Roper and
Meehan and Donegal just about clung on. This was a
particularly good advertisement for the National
Football League - an exciting game that went right
down to the wire and either side could have
deservedly walked off with the spoils. Galway came
into the game as table-toppers and they justified
their lofty position by making a whirlwind start.
Donegal looked decidedly sluggish as the visitors
went 0-04 to 0-00 up within five minutes of the
throw-in. The unmarked Matthew Clancy was picked out
for a first-minute point and with veteran forward
Padraic Joyce playing a central role, Galway made
their early points look simple. Joyce played in a
precise low ball to Michael Meehan who collected and
turned almost instantaneously to fire over a fine
point. Joyce was involved again as he offloaded in a
timely fashion for Darren Mullahy to hare forward
and the wing-back took his point well to move Galway
0-03 to 0-00 ahead. Mullahy had plenty of space to
operate in as Galway used a two-man full-forward
line of Meehan and Fiachra Breathnach which created
a plenty of gaps in the Donegal defence. Joyce added
a free but Donegal bossed the closing 20 minutes of
the opening half. They soon halved Galway's lead
with Colm McFadden, who had a goal ruled out for
holding, and Roper both pointing. Joyce was the
provider once again for a Meehan score but that
effort was cancelled out by a Ryan Bradley free from
the hand. Once Donegal got back on terms, with
McFadden levelling the sides at 0-06 apiece, they
looked the more potent outfit. Corner-forwards
McFadden and David Walsh kicked the next three
points for the home side, whose defence, marshalled
by the excellent Karl Lacey, noticeably tightened up
after Galway's early flourish. When Walsh and Rory
Kavanagh landed further points on the restart, a
damning statistic for Galway manager Liam Sammon was
that his side had been outscored by 0-11 to 0-02
since the fifth-minute of the game. Burke's
sending-off for his second bookable offence should
have allowed Donegal build on their lead, but Galway
dug deep to close the gap to two points - 0-11 to
0-09. Joyce flung over two points and after another
strong run forward, defender Mullahy bisected the
posts to increase the pressure on Donegal. Brian
McIver's side rose to that challenge and nippy
wing-forward Roper was in the right place at the
right time to bulge the net off the ground after a
cross in from the right. Almost immediately though,
Galway got a goal of their own when wing forward
Declan Meehan created the opening for his younger
brother Michael to beat Paul Durcan with a
well-struck effort. Meehan then added a point, which
nudged in off the post, to his goal and Galway were
suddenly only 1-11 to 1-10 behind. Ryan Bradley hit
a free to ease Donegal's worries, although Galway
substitute Cormac Bane replied by kicking one from
his hand at the other end. With just a point
separating the sides, Galway were presented with two
late frees to square up the game. On both occasions,
Joyce and Meehan failed to get the required
elevation in their kicks after opting to place them
on the ground. Those decisions proved costly as
Donegal held firm for their third win in four league
games, and a timely one after their loss to Kildare
last time out.
