The Galway ladies footballers bounced back from their opening league defeat at the hands of Mayo to register their first win when overcoming Waterford by 1-13 to 1-8 in Carrickbeg on Sunday.
Waterford opened the scoring, but Galway quickly found a foothold. Nine points from Caherlistrane forward Gillian O’Connor and a second-half goal from Charlotte Cooney set them on their way.
Lisa Murphy impressed in goal as did Sarah Conneally at full-back, while the half back line worked tirelessly as a unit throughout.
Edel Concannon made a cameo bench entrance for her first appearance of the year, while fellow stalwart Aoibheann Daly put in a solid display at midfield, kicking two points in the process. She was complemented by Claire Hehir who was moved to midfield for the second half.
Despite Lisa Leonard spurning two goal chances, she made a welcome return to the fold as Galway did enough to leave the banks of the Suir with the points. Next they make the significantly shorter journey south to take on Clare on Sunday.
Galway manager Con Moynihan said: “It was a good team performance and all the players played contributed to the success. Mistakes were made, which, we as a team have to correct sooner rather than later.”
Sarah Conneally picked up a knee problem but is expected to play against Clare. Moynihan is expected to name a similar starting 15.
Galway: Lisa Murphy; Siobhan Divilly (Eilish Gannon 31m 0-1 ), Marie Brennan (Claire Gibbons 40m ), Sarah Conneally; Amy Rohan, Fabienne Cooney, Sinead Burke; Aoibheann Daly (0-2 ), Tessa Mullins; Charlotte Cooney (1-0 ) (E Concannon 50mins ), Geraldine Conneally (Lisa Leonard 46m ), Claire Hehir (0-1 ); Niamh Lohan (Michelle Burke 31m ), Mairead Coyne (Deirdre Brennan 44m ), Gillian O’Connor (0-9 ).
