Fermanagh 0-10 Galway 1-13
Galway overwhelmed 14-man Fermanagh in the second period, recovering from a four-point half-time deficit to pick up a valuable win on the road in Division Two of the Allianz Football League.
This was the proverbial game of two halves in Brewster Park, Fermanagh recovering from the early loss of their captain Eoin Donnelly to lead by 0-07 to 0-03 at the break.
But Damien Comer's goal 10 seconds after the restart, allied to a great second half by Paul Conroy, turned the game on its head and Galway already had the points secured before Erne defender Cian McManus picked up a straight red card late on.
Eoin Donnelly appeared baffled to pick up a black card in the ninth minute – his second in four days after also seeing black in University of Ulster's Sigerson Cup defeat by UCD.
Despite the loss of their leader, Eddie Courtney showed well inside and clipped over the first of his two first-half points.
Galway won several Femanagh kickouts in succession in a good little spell and drew level through Michael Daly and a long-range effort from Conroy.
From three points all, Fermanagh took over in the 10 minutes before half time with four points in a row, three from Sean Quigley.
His '45', a long-range and a point to leave Fermanagh in a good place heading into the second half.
But Galway manager Kevin Walsh's half-time team-talk stirred his players out of their inertia and they were a different side from the throw-in.
Damien Comer and Conroy were influential figures in the comeback, Comer immediately putting the ball in the net to undo most of Fermanagh's good first-half work.
Galway won the throw-in and Comer's left-footed shot across goal planted into the far corner.
Sean Armstrong struggled to get into the game and was replaced, but after a quiet first half Comer and Conroy got to work.
Fermanagh tried to keep their noses in front as long as possible and Barry Mulrone scored a neat point from the wing, and Corrigan again edged them ahead after Galway drew level, but the tide was turning.
Two successive points from Michael Daly put them ahead for the first time, at 1-07 to 0-09 in the 54th minute.
They kicked strongly for home, with Barry McHugh nailing three frees into a tricky wind and Conroy winning a kickout, running through and clipping it over the bar.
Fermanagh had a clear penalty claim turned down in the 67th minute when Declan Kyne appeared to pick the ball up off the ground, but Galway were already five points and looking convincing.
Erne cornerback Cian McManus saw red for a body punch on Gareth Bradshaw near the end, but it was irrelevant to the result, Galway outscoring the home side by 1-10 to 0-03 in a one-sided second half.
Scorers for Fermanagh – S Quigley 0-03 (1f, one '45'), T Corrigan 0-02 (1f), E Courtney 0-02, B Mulrone, L Cullen, A Breen 0-01 each
Scorers for Galway – D Comer 1-02, B McHugh 0-04 (4f), M Daly 0-03, P Conroy 0-02, T Flynn, E Brannigan 0-01 each
Fermanagh: C Snow; P Rehill, C Cullen, C McManus; D McCusker, R McCluskey, B Mulrone; E Donnelly, L Cullen; A Breen, C Beacom, P McCusker; E Courtney, S Quigley, T Corrigan
Subs: R Lyons for Donnelly (BC, 9), C Corrigan for Beacom (HT), D Keenan for P McCusker (59),
Galway: R Lavelle; D Kyne, D Walsh, L Burke; G O'Donnell, G Bradshaw, J Heaney; P Conroy, F O Curraoin; T Flynn, D Comer, M Daly; C McDaid, B McHugh, S Armstrong
Subs: E Brannigan for Armstrong (41), S Kelly for McDaid (42), E Tierney for McDaid (70), C Sweeney for McHugh (70)
