TRIBE UN-LAOIS HELL FOR A GREAT START
FOR the second week in a row, reigning All-ireland and League champions Galway carved out a win in the Allianz Hurling League.
The sides were evenly matched early on, and despite Laois leaking a third minute Conor Whelan goal (left), the hosts were quickly back on level terms, thanks to an Eric Killeen point and a brace of Ross King scores.
The hosts moved 0-7 to 1-3 clear on 21 minutes, with King and Willie Dunphy on target.
Laois found it hard to sustain this effort, and although both
Donegal conceded 4-17 to an amped up Galway in the final round of the qualifiers, a shock defeat that ended Rory Gallagher’s reign as boss.
New manager Declan Bonner came within a whisker of a famous win over Kerry in the Allianz League last weekend though defeat was their lot again as the Kingdom rallied.
They could do with the two points for a win today in Letterkenny and won’t lack motivation with Galway the opposition all over again.
Midfielder Mcfadden, who lined out in that 15-point pasting last July, said: “There’s no point shying away from it – it was a dark, dark day for Donegal football. “We went there with the aim of producing a performance that would take us to Croke Park for an Allireland quarter-final and we came nowhere near that.
“We were hammered off the park but we can’t dwell on that too much. This season is a fresh start for us with the change of management so there’s no looking back.”
Still, Mcfadden acknowledged that critics were quick to stick the knife in and slam Donegal’s counter attacking style after the whitewash.
He said: “I suppose the way it ended, people want to hit out at you when you are down and want to point out what you’re doing wrong. “But it is always easy to be negative towards a pragmatist.
“We had great attacking performances against Tyrone and in the first-half against Mayo, while we also put up big scores against Monaghan and Roscommon.
“We also put up a decent number against Antrim in the Ulster Championship and against Meath.
“So we have shown that we are capable of putting up big scores but the reality is that if we are facing a Cavan, a Tyrone or a Monaghan in Ulster, the game is not going to be that open.
“That’s just the reality of Ulster football and you have to prepare yourself to be very competitive in those games.
“Unfortunately last year we just weren’t competitive against Tyrone but I don’t think that had anything to do with the fact that we were too defensive, we just simply weren’t at the races and we won’t hide from that.”
Galway 2-18 Laois 0-17
sides were reduced to 14 men a straight red for Galway’s Greg Lally, and a second yellow for Laois’s James Ryan - the Tribesmen took control.
An unanswered 1-2 including a second Whelan goal, handed them a 2-6 to 0-10 half-time lead, and they continued this strong vein of form on the restart. Laois kept in touch through King scores, but Galway finished well. SCORERS: GALWAY: C Whelan (2-0); J Cooney, P Mannion (3f) 0-4 each; A Harte, C Cooney (2f) 0-3; J Coen, P Breheny, S Linnane, D Glennon (0-1 each). LAOIS: R King (0-12, 8f, 1 65); W Dunphy (0-2); B Conroy, E Rowland (1f), E Killeen (0-1 each.)