The Galway ladies footballers pulled off a shock at Duggan Park in Ballinasloe on Sunday when they condemned a much-fancied Kerry to their first defeat of the season in division 2 of the National Football League.
A first-half blitz, in which Galway made full advantage of wind, helped them to a 1 - 11 to 2 - 6 victory.
Deirdre Corridan got Kerry underway with the first score of the game after 30 seconds, but the visitors went 27 minutes before scoring again as Galway ran riot to go 11 points clear.
Tracey Leonard dispatched from a free and newly-formed midfielder Aoibheann Daly quickly followed suit. Another Galway stalwart, Edel Concannon, then found the back of the net from around 30 metres.
Seven more Galway scores without reply followed as Kerry struggled to obtain possession to muster any form of attack. Two from Lisa and Tracy Leonard, and well-taken points from Ger Conneally, Claire Hehir and Deirdre Brennan put Galway 1-9 to 0-1 in front.
Kerry found a life-line through impressive corner forward Louise Ni Mhuircheartaigh who grabbed two goals in quick succession,reducing the gap to 1-9 to 2-2 at the break.
However two Tracy Leonard frees and a Ni Mhuircheartaigh point stretched Galway’s advantage. Kerry could have grabbed another life-line when Corridan was awarded a penalty, but Patrice Dennehy’s kick flashed horribly wide as Galway added more points to make it three wins in a row for Con Moynihan’s charges.
