Galway 0-21

Donegal 0-14

Pádraic Ó Ciardha in Pearse Stadium

“IN these matters, the only certainty is that nothing is certain.” Now, it’s fair to say that Pliny the Elder probably wasn’t talking specifically about a 16-point half-time lead in Pearse Stadium when he uttered the previous quote, but I’m sure he’d agree that it applies all the same.

An excellent first half performance from Galway saw them open up a huge gap between themselves and Donegal as the sides headed for the tunnel last Sunday, but there was still a nagging worry amongst the home crowd, and their manager as it turned out, that you couldn’t be absolutely sure it would be enough to see off Jim McGuinness’ unbeaten outfit.

The most obvious reason for that uncertainty was the near-gale force wind Donegal would have at their backs in the second half. The second, and not unrelated reason, was that the new two-point score makes coming back from a sizable deficit that bit easier. It had certainly allowed Galway to race into their big lead.

Toss in the red card shown to Matthew Tierney just before the break and the Tribesmen throwing away a big lead up in Derry the week previous and you might be able to see why a quote from someone who traipsed around in a toga two thousand years ago might come to mind.

Speaking afterwards, Pádraic Joyce said he thought a 20-point lead might be needed such was the strength of the wind but he and the Galway faithful huddled in the stand needn’t have worried so much because, in the end, Galway had more than enough to see off a fairly lacklustre fightback from their opponents.

The wind blew just as hard on the resumption as it did in the first half but Donegal, without Michael Murphy, Patrick McBrearty and Ryan McHugh, couldn’t make use of it like Galway did. Peadar Mogan and Dáire Ó Baoill did their best, kicking two-pointers to eat into the deficit but they couldn’t match Galway, and one man in particular, in that department.

Shane Walsh had kicked eight two-pointers coming into Sunday’s game and the four he added in the first half against Donegal laid the foundation for Galway’s win. Brendan McCole has kept plenty of quality forwards in his pocket over the last couple of years but he could barely lay a glove on the 2022 All-Star in Pearse Stadium.

It was Walsh, inevitably, who got Galway on their way at the weekend when McCole sat back off him and Walsh took advantage to curl a shot over from just inside the 45m line after two minutes. The Donegal full-back was much closer ten minutes later, chasing Walsh well outside the ‘45 but the Galway talisman simply ran around him before planting another beauty over the bar from the right-hand side.

Pictured: Galway players Ron Finnerty and Sam O’Neill have this situation under control against Donegal during Sunday’s Division 1 league clash at Pearse Stadium. Photo: Joe O’Shaughnessy.