Reigning Allianz Hurling League Division 1A champions Cork recovered from a slow start to put Galway to the sword 2-20 to 1-21 in front of 8,464 at Pearse Stadium.
Galway, beaten by Tipperary in their opening game, failed to build on a superb start and were overhauled once the Rebels got into their stride.
Galway, having dominated initially, led by 1-09 to 0-11 at the end of a fiery opening half where there were a few flare-ups, including when the teams were leaving the field at the break.
Galway were forced into a late change with Rory Burke, who had played in the Fitzgibbon Cup in midweek having also featured against Tipperary last weekend, ruled out with a hamstring injury and was replaced by Tom Monaghan.
Galway were rampant from the outset and led by 1-07 to 0-03 at the end of the opening quarter where they shot seven wides to none for Cork, while their dominance was also reflected in seven frees to none for the reigning league champions.
Daithi Burke was dominant at centre-back and Cathal Mannion and Gavin Lee were on top in midfield and Cork, despite having nine of the team which started the All-Ireland final, just could not get a foothold.
Mannion led the Galway onslaught and they pulled seven points in front when John Fleming and Jason Rabbitte combined to set up Monaghan he blasted to the top right corner from the left for a fine goal after eleven minutes.
But Cork didn't panic and a couple of frees from Alan Connolly and one from Declan Dalton kept them in touch, although they trailed by double scores at 1-09 to 0-06 seven minutes from the break.
Cork, with Rob Downey leading the way, upped the tempo as the exchanges became more fiery and they reeled off five points without reply before the break with Shane Barrett getting a couple, and both Seamus Harnedy and Darragh Fitzgibbon getting their second points of the contest as Brian O’Sullivan also landed one from distance.
Galway’s Burke and Barrett were both after a tangle that led to a melee and there were also several exchanges as both sides headed for the tunnel.
Mannion and Harnedy exchanged points after the restart before Barrett landed two in a row to edge Cork 0-14 to 1-10 in front after 40 minutes as both sides dug in. Declan McLoughlin levelled the sides for the third time before the sides twice exchanged points to tie them after 48 minutes before efforts from Harnedy and Barrett pushed the Rebels two clear.
Galway hit back with three in a row as Lee and Mannion (2) found the target to take a 1-16 to 0-18 lead into the closing ten minutes.
Then Fitzgibbon soloed in from the left to set up Brian Hayes for a goal from close range and Tim O’Mahony landed a point from the puckout to lead by three.
Connoly extended the lead to four with a free and then Barrett set up Hayes for his second goal from close range to lead by seven.
Galway rallied with five points from Aaron Niland after he took over free-taking duties but they were unable to snatch it at the death.
Galway: Darach Fahy; Joshua Ryan, Cillian Trayers, Ronan Glennon; Padraic Mannion, Daithi Burke, Daniel Loftus; Gavin Lee (0-03), Tom Monaghan (1-00); Darragh Neary (0-01), Cathal Mannion (0-10, 8f), John Fleming; Declan McLaughlin (0-01), Jason Rabbitte, Aaron Niland (0-5, 4f).
Subs: Colm Molloy (0-01) for Fleming (28), TJ Brennan for Glennon (40), Cianan Fahy for Burke (50), Sean Linnane for Monaghan (58), Cillian Whelan for Trayers (65).
Cork: Patrick Collins; Niall O’Leary, Dáire O’Leary, Eoin Roche; Eoin Downey, Robert Downey, Mark Coleman; Tommy O’Connell, Brian O’Sullivan (0-01); Darragh Fitzgibbon (0-03), Shane Barrett (0-06), Séamus Harnedy (0-04); Brian Roche, Declan Dalton (0-01), Alan Connolly (0-04, 3f), Paudie O’Sullivan.
Subs: Tim O’Mahony (0-01) for O’Sullivan (36), Brian Hayes (2-00) for B Roche (36), Robbie O’Flynn for Dalton (47), Hugh O’Connor for Harnedy (64), Brian Keating for Fitzgibbon (70).
Referee: Michael Kennedy (Tipperary).
