Galway never had to get out of second gear at Tullamore this afternoon as they eased to victory over a toothless Offaly side at Bord na Móna O’Connor Park, Jason Flynn leading the way with an immaculate display of dead-ball striking that saw him rack up a personal haul of 13 points, with just one wide to his name.
Playing with the aid of a slight breeze in the early stages, Galway quickly established a firm foothold in the game as they fired six points without replay in the first 12 minutes of play.
The foundation for their dominance was their control of the Offaly puckout, as they denied the home side any possession and drove at goal, earning frees which Flynn converted comfortably.
Close to goal Offaly’s full-back line held up well, while Damien Egan also made an excellent block to deny Conor Whelan a shot on goal, but further up the field their forward line was completely starved of possession. Meanwhile the few good deliveries that were sent that direction were easily gobbled up by an impressive Galway back division.
Offaly’s first meaningful scoring chance arrived after 14 minutes when Joe Bergin and Paul Killeen contested a high delivery and the breaking ball for Kevin Connolly, whose first-time shot was well-saved by James Skehill.
Bergin pointed the resultant ’65 and Colin Egan added another for the home side four minutes later, but they were to be Offaly’s only scores in the opening 34 minutes, until Colin Egan added another couple in the closing minutes of the half.
Galway themselves struggled to make meaningful inroads up front, with the majority of their scores coming through Flynn, but they found an extra gear in first half injury time and a superb point from Conor Whelan on the stand-side touchline was followed up with a close-range goal from the same player, kicked to the net after Conor Clancy failed to hold onto a dropping ball from the right wing.
1-12 to 0-4 adrift at the break, Offaly produced their best spell of hurling in this league campaign so far after half time, picking off six of the next eight points.
Joe Bergin was on target with two frees, Kevin Connolly fired over one from play and worked hard to earn a turnover that resulted in a Kevin Dunne point, while Colm Gath added a score from a sideline cut that was hotly disputed by the Galway side.
When Bergin fired over a free in the 45th minute the gap was down to six points, but Offaly never looked like getting the goal they badly needed and once Galway manager Micheál Donoghue sent for Padraic and Cathal Mannion to shore up the middle third of the field, they held the midlanders at bay easily, without ever looking like cutting loose up front.
A late breakaway move led to Conor Whelan setting up Brian Concannon for a late goal for the Tribesmen, restoring Galway’s double-digit advantage and piling on the pressure on beleaguered Offaly manager Kevin Martin.
Galway: James Skehill; Sean Linnane, Paul Killeen, Darren Morrissey; Jack Fitzpatrick, Gearóid McInerney, John Hanbury; Seán Loftus (0-01), Seán Kilduff (0-01); Niall Burke (0-01), Conor Whelan (1-02, 0-01 free), Jason Flynn (0-13, 0-08 frees, 0-04 ‘65s); Ronan O’Meara, Brian Concannon (1-01), Kevin Cooney.
Subs: Davy Glennon (0-01) for Burke (32), Padraic Mannion for Hanbury (51), Cathal Mannion for O’Meara (57), Ronan Burke for Fitzpatrick (59),
Offaly: Conor Clancy; Paddy Rigney, Niall Houlihan, Ben Conneely; Damien Egan, Pat Camon, Andy Flynn; Aidan Treacy, Mark Egan; Kevin Dunne (0-01), Colin Egan (0-03), Sean Dolan (0-01); Kevin Connolly (0-01), Joe Bergin (0-06, 0-05 frees, 0-01 ’65), Colm Gath (0-01, sideline).
Subs: Shane Kinsella for Flynn (10), Paddy Murphy (0-01) for Colin Egan (46), Shane Dooley for Gath (52), Eoghan Parlon for Mark Egan (62), David Nally for Dunne (70)
Referee: Sean Stack (Dublin)
