By Jim Short
Galway maintained their winning start to Division 2 in the Allianz League as Down fell to a second successive defeat by 1-12 to 0-09.
Galway had the strong wind behind them in the opening half at Pairc Esler and used it well to lead by 1-07 to 0-02 at the interval.
Down rallied in the third quarter but only managed to reduce the margin to four points before Galway got on top again to make it two wins from two as they hope for an immediate return to the top flight.
Galway got a glorious start when Shane Walsh set up Paul Conroy for a well-taken goal for the opening score of the game after six minutes and that really settled the Tribesmen.
Barry O'Hagan, the main scoring threat for Down, hit back with a point almost immediately but they only managed one more score in the opening half, a point from Andrew Gilmore after 26 minutes.
Conroy and Paul Kelly gave Galway an edge in midfield and Walsh was a constant threat, along with sub Damien Comer who came on before the break after recovering from injury.
Galway pulled away with Rob Finnerty, Walsh and Comer kicking good points to lead by eight at the break, 1-07 to 0-02, and leave Down with a considerable battle as they tried to recover from their opening round 1-10 to 0-06 loss away to Derry.
The home support sensed a good comeback when Down rattled off four points in the opening eight minutes after the break and it might even have been better had Cormac McCartan not settled for a point from a rare goal chance.
O’Hagan landed three, two of them from marks and the other after a good patient build-up, to reduce the gap to 1-07 to 0-06 after 43 minutes.
But that was as good as it got for James McCartan’s men. Galway skipper Sean Kelly and Kieran Molloy got on top in defence and their patient build-ups were rewarded as Owen Gallagher, the former Antrim player who has settled well with his adopted county, landed his second point.
The other four points for Galway in the second half came from frees by Walsh after Down were forced into conceding frees by their patient build-ups, and with Down never looking like getting in for a goal, there was only going to be one outcome as Joyce’s men continued their impressive start to the campaign.
Down: Gary McMahon; Peter Fegan, Finn McElroy, Brendan McArdle; Ruairi McCormack, Niall McParland, Darren O’Hagan; Anthony Doherty, Odhran Murdock; Caolan Mooney, Liam Kerr, Cormac McCartan (0-01); Barry O’Hagan (0-05, 0-02m, 0-01f), Kevin McKernan, Andrew Gilmore (0-03, 0-02f).
Subs: C Poland for D O’Hagan (51), P Hevern for McKernan (55), J McCartan for Mooney (59), C Francis for McCormack (66), T Close for McParland (68).
Galway: Conor Flaherty; Kieran Molloy, Seán Kelly, Jonathan McGrath; Dylan McHugh, John Daly, Cillian McDaid; Paul Kelly, Paul Conroy (1-02); Matthew Tierney, Owen Gallagher (0-02), Finnian Ó Laoí; Tomo Culhane (0-01m), Rob Finnerty (0-01), Shane Walsh (0-05, 0-04f, 0-01m).
Subs: Damien Comer (0-01m) for Finnerty (29), Patrick Kelly for Ó Laoí (45), Tony Gill for Daly (51), Cathal Sweeney for Culhane (55), Dessie Conneely for Patrick Kelly (68).
Referee: Brendan Cawley (Kildare).
