Dublin 2-19 Galway 1-21
By Darragh Twomey at Parnell Park
A late Paul Ryan free helped Dublin overcome fourteen-man Galway in a sunny Parnell Park on
Saturday afternoon (2/2/13).
Andy Smith from the Portumna club was shown a straight red-card for an off the ball incident with
Conal Keaney midway through the first half.
It was Dublin that got off to the better start as they lead by 1-4 to 0-2 after just six minutes of play.
Dublin captain Johnny McCaffrey opened the scoring a minute into the game with a sweet strike off
his left side. Seconds later he doubled his tally, this time with the use of his opposite side. McCaffrey
continued to influence the game from his rather un-familiar centre-forward role, playing key passes
to Danny Sutcliffe and Conal Keaney later in the half.
Paul Ryan struck over his first free of the game, but Damien Hayes replied with a point for the
Tribesmen shortly after.
Niall Healy and Kevin Byrne popped over a point each for Galway and Dublin respectively.
The opening goal of the game came in the sixth minute through Paul Ryan. Mark Schutte towered
above his opponents to catch a high-ball in the square, layed it off to Kevin Byrne who played the
killer pass in the move before Ryan placed the ball neatly into the bottom corner.
However, just three minutes later Galway got a goal of their own. Davy Glennon ran quarter the
length of the pitch, played a clever hand-pass to Jonathon Glynn, and he buried the ball into the
back of the net past a helpless Gary Maguire.
The half-forward trio of Conal Keaney, Johnny McCaffrey and Danny Sutcliffe hit back with a point
each for the metropolitans, although Dublin did seem to fall asleep for the next fifteen minutes.
Galway were reduced to fourteen men during this nightmare period for the Dublin hurlers, and they
soon found themselves trailing as the Connacht outfit racked up six un-answered points.
Former Galway underage player Niall Corcoran limped off the field five minutes from the break,
hammering his hurl into the ground with frustration, and was replaced by Lucan ace Peter Kelly.
Paul Ryan managed to score two points in stoppage time for the Dubs, but Galway decided to go
one better as Niall Healy got two points from placed balls, and Tadhg Haran, who was replacing the
absent Joe Canning, got his name on the score sheet to send his side in with a 1-11 to 1-9 advantage
at the break.
Galway’s talisman Niall Healy opened the second half scoring with a routine free, but Danny Sutcliffe
was quick to match his efforts at the opposite end. Davy Glennon scored the next point for Galway in
this end-to-end thriller, but Eamon Dillon and Danny Sutcliffe scored a point each while their team-
mate Paul Ryan belted over two free’s to keep the score-board ticking over for the boys in blue.
Midway through the half, Dublin’s Danny Sutcliffe capitalised on a mistake in the Galway defence
and he aimed his shot low at the near post. Goalkeeper Colm Callanan watched the ball trickle along
the surface into the back of his net, to the delight of the small Dublin crowd who made the trip out
to Donnycearney.
Galway refused to lie-back, and again went ahead as they scored six points in relatively quick
succession, four of which were scored by the in-form Niall Healy (2 frees) and the other two were
struck over by Aidan Harte and Davy Glennon.
Joey Boland scored what was a strong contender for point-of-the-match, dummying his opponent,
running down the wing and striking over from 45-yards out. A minute later the game was brought
level by a Paul Ryan free, but his score was cancelled out by a lovely point from Galway substitute
Aongus Callanan.
Eamon Dillon knocked over his second point of the game for Dublin, but the spotlight was soon
switched to Gary Maguire, as the Ballyboden net minder got down low and dived across the muddy
goal-mouth to stop what seemed a certain goal. The ever-reliable goalkeeper then got up quicky to
knock the ball out for a 65 which was converted by Niall Healy to put Galway in the lead yet again.
Shane Durkin brought the game level for the final time with a beautiful strike from midfield.
With two minutes left, Paul Ryan put Dublin ahead through a free. Niall Healy had two late
opportunities to bring the game level but he failed to score under severe pressure from the jeering
Dublin fans.
The referee then blew the final whistle when Peter Kelly emerged with the ball from a crowded goal
mouth at the Church End of the stadium, and it was Dublin who were victorious on this occasion,
running out as 2-19 to 1-21 winners.
Dublin: Gary Maguire, Niall Corcoran, Paul Schutte, Ruairi Trainor, Joey Boland (0-1), Michael Carton,
Chris Crummey, Kevin Byrne (0-1), Shane Durkin (0-1), Danny Sutcliffe (1-3), Johnny McCaffrey (0-
3), Conal Keaney (0-1), Eamon Dillon (0-2), Mark Schutte, Paul Ryan (1-7, 0-6 f), Peter Kelly, Simon
Lambert, David O’Callaghan, Ross O’Carroll
Galway: Colm Callanan, Fergal Moore, Kevin Hynes, Johnny Coen, David Collins, Tony OG Regan,
Aidan Harte (0-2), Andy Smith, Iarla Tannian, Damien Hayes (0-2), Jonathan Glynn (0-1), Paul
Gordon, Niall Healy (0-11, 0- f), Tadhg Haran (0-1), Davy Glennon (0-3), Padraig Brehony (0-1),
Aongus Callanan (0-1)
