Galway did more than enough to secure their second win in this season's national league and in the process plunge Waterford into serious relegation trouble.
Galway led by 2-11 to 0-11 at the break despite playing against the wind in the opening half.
Waterford led by 0-06 to 1-02 after eleven minutes and looked set to build a decent lead despite a sluggish first touch.
But Galway, boosted by a goal from wing-back Ronan Glennon in the third minute after good approach work by Padraic Mannion and Jason Rabbitte, took over and hit 1-07 without reply from the 12th to the 28th minute.
Cathal Mannion led the way, hitting four frees and two from play despite a couple of missed efforts from placed balls, while brother Padraic, playing his 120th game for Galway, manned the central defensive position with authority.
Cianan Fahy was full of running in midfield and with Aaron Niland picking off three points from play, Galway pulled away with Colm Molloy finishing to the net after being set up by Cathal Mannion and Tiernan Killeen.
Waterford, struggling to repeat the tempo they showed in Kilkenny last time out, managed to rally approaching half-time as they trailed by 2-09 to 0-06.
Goalkeeper Billy Nolan landed a free from 85 metres and Stephen Bennett added to his three frees to help reduce the margin, but they went in at the break trailing by six and having to face the wind after the restart.
The Deise failed to make inroads into the deficit and Galway extended their advantage to eight points by the 42nd minute with Fahy and Cian Daniels dominating midfield.
Galway’s margin of victory would have been much greater had Waterford goalkeeper Nolan not produced some fine saves to deny Fahy and then later a penalty from Niland after he himself had been fouled, earning Waterford captain Mark Fitzgerald a black card.
The Tribesmen led by 2-16 to 0-14 after 48 minutes but, remarkably, both sides managed to score just two points each from there to the end as the game petered out to an inevitable conclusion with neither team managing to score in the closing 13 minutes of the contest.
Galway: Stephen O’Halloran; Joshua Ryan, Cillian Trayers, Kieran Hanrahan; Darren Morrissey, Padraic Mannion, Ronan Glennon (1-00); Cianan Fahy, Cian Daniels (0-02); Tom Monaghan (0-02), Cathal Mannion (0-09, 0-06, 0-01 ’65), Tiernan Killeen; Jason Rabbittte (0-01), Colm Molloy (1-00), Aaron Niland (0-04, 0-1f).
Subs: Conor Whelan for Molloy (51), Cullen Killeen for Fahy (54), TJ Brennan for Glennon (60), Declan McLaughlin for Rabbitte (63), Conor Cooney for Niland (66).
Waterford: Billy Nolan (0-01f); Jaron O'Neill, Mark Fitzgerald, Ian Kenny; Paddy Leavy, Iarlaith Daly (0-01), Shane Bennett; Brian Lynch, Jack Prendergast (0-02); Stephen Bennett (0-08, 0-07f), Rúaidhrí Waldron, Jamie Barron (0-01); Kevin Mahony, Sean Walsh (0-02), Michael Kiely (0-01).
Subs: Patrick Curran for Mahony (half-time), Calum Lyons for Daly (half-time), Sean Mackey for Waldron (43), Tadgh de Burca for Shane Bennett (48), Jack Fagan (De La Salle) for Kiely (65).
Referee: James Owens (Wexford).
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