Galway...4-11 Limerick...1-10: The footballers of Limerick have suffered four-goal afternoons before but yesterday they left the sun-soaked ground at Ballinasloe content in the knowledge that this lesson was not enough to knock them off the top of the league table. Curious times and it was a very curious game.
As the results from around the country crackled through the hand-held radios, John O'Mahony squinted in the fine afternoon and declared the early season topsy-turvy. It has been that.
This was an attractive and intriguing game of football that failed only in its delivery of the tight finish the first half promised. It was 1-6 apiece at the break, Limerick challenging Galway with the confidence and self-expression that separated them from the pack in the opening series of league games.
Thirty-five minutes later, the home crowd basked in a glowing reminder of just how potent and sweet the sound of the maroon game when on song. Limerick could have been forgiven for wondering about the resounding difference in scoring because this felt like a much tougher game.
"Well, I thought maybe they were a bit flattered with two of the goals," responded Limerick manager Liam Kearns. "There was a key moment when we forced a save off them and next thing the ball comes up field and was in the net. That was a six-point turnaround.
"They have that bit of class up front. But that was a very useful experience for us."
The visitors' brightest period came in response to a typically gushing Galway start, when Mattie Clancy's eighth-minute goal - a combination of determination and pure speed - laid the foundations for a 1-3 to nothing lead after 10 minutes.
Galway then appeared to drift mentally while Limerick set about contesting the game in artisan fashion. They chipped away admirably, Muiris Gavin dispatching frees and Eoin Keating, flush against the end line, curling over a point on 18 minutes.
The fortunes of Diarmuid Sheehy had a heavy impact on the first half. Drafted in to replace full back Johnny McCarthy, he was soon moved off the dancing Nicky Joyce to instead shadow the roaming Tommie Joyce.
That random role saw Sheehy first dispatch a point - a speculative pass that bounced over Alan Donohue's bar - and then he out-jumped his marker to take possession in the Galway square and hammer his team's only goal. Coming on 32 minutes, it gave Limerick their only lead of the game but two Padhraic Joyce points redressed that.
The sequence that Kearns identified as pivotal occurred on 42 minutes. A fantastic long ball by Gavin over the top of the Galway defence ended in a great save by replacement goalkeeper Alan Keane from Keating. Joe Bergin rose to fetch the resultant 45 and the following seconds were classic Galway.
With lightning speed, the ball was transferred to Seán de Paor who directed a long and perfect drop-kick to Padhraic Joyce. He clipped a low and deft lob that killed Limerick's defence and bounced into Michael Donnellan's path. The Dunmore man's only problem was to decide which foot to finish with.
Limerick rallied stubbornly with two Gavin points but, all of a sudden, Galway were in the mood.
Nicky Joyce rapped over two quick points and the goal roused the great Donnellan's creative juices. It was he that sent in the huge, dropping ball that ended up with Padhraic Joyce slamming home a third goal and he also made the break and disguised hand-pass that preceded Mattie Clancy's second.
The play that drew the gasps, however, was Donnellan's fine and unreadable pass over the Limerick back line to create an opportunity for de Paor. Donnellan kicked the pass as if it were an afterthought and de Paor, possibly wrapped up in the aesthetics of the movement, elected to try a Brazilian-style soccer chip on O'Donnell that did not come off.
Overall, it was a good day for Galway. John Devane, a towering young debutant, fired three points and Seán Ó Dómhnaill was brought out of the deep freeze and impressed when he replaced the injured Kevin Walsh. There were groans of concern about the defence but only two of the Limerick forwards scored all day and the most threatening, the live-wire Keating, was confined to two points by Barry Dooney.
Padhraic Joyce is glowering with both the skill and sharpness that bodes well for Galway, who, John O'Mahony reckons, were shy about nine players here.
Limerick, however, were also missing regulars. John Galvin came in to contribute a handsome last 20 minutes and although Stephen Kelly's radar was off, he, too, comes back into contention as Limerick prepare for a crucial game against Meath.
GALWAY: B Donoghue; B Dooney, G Fahey, C Monaghan; M Comer, D Burke, S de Paor; K Walsh, J Bergin; M Donnellan (1-0), P Joyce (1-5, three frees), M Clancy (2-0); J Devane (0-3), N Joyce (0-3, one free), T Joyce. Subs: S Ó Domhnaill for K Walsh (28 mins); A Keane for B Donoghue (half-time).
LIMERICK: S O'Donnell; M O'Riordan, D Sheehy (1-1), T Stack; P Browne, S Lucey, D Reidy; J Quane, T Carroll (0-1); M O'Brien, M Gavin (0-6, three frees), C Mullane; M Horan, J Murphy, E Keating (0-2). Subs: S Kelly for J Murphy (half-time); J Galvin for J Quane (52 mins); J McCarthy for S Lucey (55).
Referee: J Bannon (Longford).
