The relentless march of Derry continued unabated as the Allianz Football League leaders swept to a fourth successive victory against a depleted Galway on a windy day at Pearse Stadium.
An early goal from Eoin McEvoy put Mickey Harte's men in the driving seat and, despite failing to score in the last quarter, they still ran out convincing winners.
Galway, who are still chasing their first home win of the campaign, badly missed the likes of Liam Silke, Paul Conroy and Cillian McDaid around the middle, as well as key attackers Shane Walsh and Damien Comer.
The concession of two second half goals also cost them dearly.
The first of these arrived six minutes after the restart when referee Derek O’Mahoney adjudged that Derry’s Diarmuid Baker had been denied a goalscoring opportunity by Galway defender, Kieran Molloy.
Shane McGuigan (who failed to score from open play) duly stepped up to convert the resultant penalty while Molloy was sent to the sin-bin.
Derry never looked back while Galway never recovered, their cause not helped by a black card for Seán Mulkerrin five minutes later.
Points from Ciarán McFaul, Donncha Gilmore and McGuigan (free) nudged Derry six points ahead swinging into the last quarter, and the game was settled as a contest when Paul Cassidy palmed in a goal in the 55th minute.
Remarkably, Derry failed to score for the remainder of the game but still kept Galway at arm’s length.
The home side only converted 12 of the 28 scoring chances they created and, in the absence of the likes of the aforementioned Walsh and Comer, were unable to put enough scores on the board.
They did shoot the last four points of the match though as substitute Cillian O Curraoin (2, one free), Robert Finnerty (free) and John Daly all hit the target.
The Ulster champions led at the end of an entertaining, end-to-end first half by 1-07 to 1-05.
Mickey Harte’s men had got off to a flying start when wing-back Eoin McEvoy came thundering through the heart of the Galway defence to crack a shot past Conor Gleeson.
That goal propelled Derry into a four points lead and stunned the home crowd into silence.The Tribesmen stuck to their task though and a black card for Brendan Rogers in the 13th minute took some of the wind out of Derry’s sails.
However, the visitors were still 1-03 to 0-02 ahead after 24 minutes with Galway’s only score from play at that stage arriving from wing-back Daniel O’Flaherty.
But with the likes of Dylan McHugh, John Maher and Johnny Heaney playing central roles, the locals came roaring back into contention when Cein Darcy ran on to a pass from John Daly before firing a low shot into the Derry net to cut the gap to the bare minimum on 25 minutes.
This score really sparked the contest into life and both teams gave as good as they got until the interval.
They traded points three times over the next ten minutes with All Star midfielder Conor Glass shooting a couple of brilliant scores for Derry, along with one from Niall Loughlin.
Galway’s responses arrived via the hard-working Robert Finnerty (2, one free) and a trademark close-range effort from targetman Niall Daly.But the last word of the half went to Derry’s dynamic midfielder, Brendan Rogers, who finished a slick hand-passing move by clipping a neat point to give the Ulster champions a little bit of extra breathing space at the interval.
They went on to make their decisive match-winning break after the restart, and will now welcome All-Ireland champions, Dublin, to Celtic Park next weekend.
Galway, meanwhile, face a crunch game away to Monaghan.
Galway: C Gleeson; J McGrath, S Fitzgerald, S Mulkerrins; D McHugh, J Daly (0-01), K Molloy; D O’Flaherty (0-01), J Maher; J Heaney (0-01, 1f), C Darcy (10-0), C Sweeney; R Finnerty (0-05, 4fs), N Daly (0-01), L Ó Conghaile.
Subs used: S Kelly for Darcy (HT); J Glynn for Molloy (52); C Ó Curraoin (0-2, 1f) for Ó Conghaile (58); R Cunningham for Finnerty (67); P Egan for Sweeney (72).
Derry: R Scullion; C McCluskey, C McKaigue, D Baker; C Doherty, E McEvoy (1-00), P McGrogan; C Glass (0-03, 1 mark), B Rogers (0-01); E Doherty, C McFaul (0-01), Paul Cassidy (1-01, 1f); N Loughlin (0-01), S McGuigan (10-2, 1-00 pen, 2fs), D Cassidy.
Subs used: N Toner for C Doherty (35, inj); D Gilmore (0-1) for D Cassidy (49); L Murray for Loughlin (55); E Mulholland for P Cassidy (64).Referee: D O’Mahoney (Tipperary)
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