Galway made it five wins in a row in the Ladies National Football League as they hit another high tally to dispose of Tipperary at Pearse Stadium on Sunday.
The win has all but secured a league semi-final berth as Galway look for an immediate return to division one football. With five wins from six games, Galway sit in second place, one point behind Connacht rivals Mayo, who, with a draw also, are unbeaten to date.
Three first-half goals from Tracy Leonard, Aoibheann Daly and Lisa Leonard all but sealed Tipp’s fate as Daly and Claire Hehir once again produced a solid display in midfield.
A Deirdre Brennan point, along with a snappy 1-2 from Tracy Leonard, gave Galway an early edge that never looked in doubt. Although a Gillian O’Brien double, along with Jennifer Grant’s point, reduced Galway’s lead to three, two more goals from Daly and Lisa Leonard left Galway cruising.
Tipperary scored four on the bounce through O’Brien, Caitriona Walsh, Edith Carroll and Shauna Ryan, but they never looked like matching a Galway team that has found its rhythm in recent weeks.
Sarah Conneally looked more than comfortable at full-back, while Fabienne Cooney impressed again in front of Conneally at centre back.
With a six point lead at half time, 3-4 to 0-7, Galway were aided by the Salthill breeze in the second half. Following early scores from Marie Brennan and Gillian Joyce, the St Brendan’s forward struck Galway’s fourth goal following another swift attack which Tipperary could not handle.
Gillian O’Brien’s scores were as good as Tipp could muster and , although she managed another three in the second half, Tracy Leonard, Hehir, Edel Concannon Eilis Gannon and two more from Daly ensured Galway’s fifth win on the bounce.
Galway’s final game is a trip to Fermanagh on Sunday week and manager Con Moynihan will be hoping several players will report back with a clean bill of health after this weeks' O'Connor Cup competition.
Galway: L Murphy; S Lynch (G Conneally 40m ) S Conneally (C Cooney 50m ) S Divilly; A Rohan, F Cooney, S Burke; A Daly (1-2 ), C Hehir (0-1 ); E Concannon (0-1 ), G Joyce (1-1 ) (G O'Connor 52m ), L Leonard (1-0, M Coyne 50 min ); T Leonard (1-3 ), M Brennan (0-2 ), D Brennan (0-1, E Gannon 50mins 0-1 ).
