Galway 4-25 Clare 0-19
Four goals from Galway's forwards crushed the memory of their defeat in their last outing as they coasted to victory over a defensively weak Clare side.
Goals from Damien Hayes, Ger Farragher, Joe Canning and Alan Kerins showed that there is still class in this Galway side and they can still mount an assault on the remaining sides in this year's Championship. A red card for Clare's James McInerney all but ended any chance of a comeback for the Banner and compounded a crushing defeat. Clare found themselves level just once throughout the entire 70 minutes and John McIntyre's side shook off the poor performance against Dublin, proving they could have far more to offer in this year's Championship .
Conor McGrath opened the scoring for the visitors with just a minute gone in the game from a free but a bright start from the Tribesmen's Damien Haynes set down an early marker. Only seven minutes had passed and Haynes converted the first real goal chance. A long ball, which was a theme of the game, was lobbed into the Portumna man and he converted his chance and gave Galway a great start. A fellow Portumna man was also on song with Joe Canning exploding into this game. His first score of the game was a typical Canning point but it was Hayes who was involved again in the move of the match. Hayes ran to the end line and picked out Iarla Tannian but he saw his effort rattle off the post but an alert Ger Farragher was on hand to slot home the rebound.
It took Clare 15 minutes to get their second score of the game and they could not live with the quality of play that Galway had to offer. The Banner's Nicky O'Connell kept his side in the game with points coming from frees but goals were proving to be the difference. The old Galway had returned to their best and the score line suggested that. McIntyre's men managed to score more in 20 minutes in this tie then they did in the whole game against Dublin. And it was 28 minutes in when Galway's third goal came, and Canning proved that he was back to his best. All the work done by the talented full-forward has he shook off the Clare defender and Canning curled his shot past Phillip Brennan in the Clare goal. The Tribesmen were not holding back and they put down their foot when it came to scores. Andy Smith, Hayes, Canning and Farragher helped their side into half-time with a commanding score of 3-13 to 0-12
The second half started as the first did. Clare came out the brighter and they score the first point through Caimin Morey but Canning and Tannian replied for the home side, but the game was all but ended on the 40 minute mark. James McInerney was given a start red for his tackle on Joe Canning when the full-forward was running through on goal. Alan Kernis and Joe Gantley got in on the scoring act and by now five of the Galway's forwards had all scored, as well as their two midfielders. It was well and truly finished and there was still 17 minutes left on the clock. Again the long ball was fired into the Galway full-forward and Kerins was on hand to fire his effort into the left hand corner of the net and kill off any chance of a miraculous comeback by Clare.
Galway Scorers: J Canning 1-9, G Farrgher 1-4, D Hayes 1-3, Alan Kerins 1-2, J Gantley 0-2, I Tannian 0-1, D Burke 0-1, A Smith 0-1, J Regan 0-1.
Clare Scorers: N O'Connell 0-6, C McGrath 0-5, C Morey 0-3, J Conlon 0-2, C McInerney 0-1, F Lynch 0-1, L Markham 0-1.
Galway: J Skehill, F Moore, S Kavanagh, D Collins, D Barry, T Og Regan, A Cullinane, D Burke (, A Smith, J Gantley, G Farragher , I Tannian, D Hayes, J Canning, A Kerins. Subs: B Daly for Burke, J Regan for Gantley, A Harte for Farragher, K Hynes for Cullinane.
Clare: P Brennan, P Vaughan, C Dillon, C Cooney, P O'Connor, P Donnellan, J McInerney, J Clancy, N O'Connell, J Conlon, F Lynch, D McMahon, C McInerney , C Morey, C McGrath. Subs: B Bugler for Vaughan, L Markham (0-1) for Clancy, S Collins for Lynch, C O'Donovan for McMahon, G Quinn for Donnellan
Referee: D Kirwan (Cork).
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