Galway were forced to work harder than they may have expected for an eleven point victory over a gritty Carlow side in their Leinster SHC first round clash in Pearse Stadium.
Henry Shefflin's Tribesmen were impressive in patches of the first half but they were given a wake-up call in the 51st minute of the game, when Conor Kehoe’s goal left just four points between the teams.
Carlow were on top at that stage of the contest, having cut the half-time deficit in two, but the goal kicked Galway into gear, and Carlow’s challenge faded in the final twenty minutes of the game.
Substitute Conor Whelan helped steady things for Galway, as did Conor Cooney, who impressed throughout the game.
Cooney’s 55th minute goal ended the game as a contest as Galway went onto score 1-7 without reply in the fifteen minutes that followed Carlow’s goal.
Jon Nolan raised a late green flag for Carlow, finishing the rebound after Marty Kavanagh’s penalty was saved by Darach Fahy and while it was only a consolation score, it reduced the deficit to a margin that was a fairer reflection of their display.
Ciaran Whelan eased the away side’s nerves with the first score of the game, their first score in the Leinster championship since 2019.
Ronan Glennon subsequently struck a wide ball for Galway but the home crowd didn’t have long to wait for a response, which came in the form of a Gavin Lee goal.
Donal O’Shea was the orchestrator-in-chief, spraying an inviting ball into Cathal Mannion who secured possession under pressure before laying off to Lee. Lee made no mistake, unleashing a rasping shot into the roof of Brian Tracey’s net.
Marty Kavanagh responded for Carlow from a free before O’Shea turned provider once again, delivering this time into Declan McLoughlin who tapped over.
The prominent O’Shea got in on the act himself moments later, with a well-taken long range score.
Carlow kept in touch with a fine point from John Michael Nolan, who had been set up by the industrious Fiachra Fizpatrick.
A brace of points each followed from Conor Cooney and the impressive Cathal Mannion before Marty Kavanagh scored brilliantly from the right hand sideline for Carlow. He followed this up with a free after Whelan was fouled in the 12th minute before Mannion and then Cooney responded for Galway.
Kavanagh scored another point from play after Fiachra Fitzpatrick had dispossessed Adrian Tuohy, but this was immediately cancelled out by a fine score from Thomas Monaghan.
Centre back Adrian Tuohey was growing increasingly influential by this stage and he strode forward to score a rare point from play.
Kavanagh again responded for Carlow after some good work from centre back Niall Bolger, reducing the deficit to just four.
Moments later Ronan Glennon scored a fine point, before both he and his marker Fiachra Fitzpatrick were yellow carded for an off the ball incident.
A late addition to the team, Tony Lawlor finished well from the left hand sideline after being set up by Fiachra Fitzpatrick before Gavin Lee scored the last point of the half, leaving the score at 1-14 to 0-9 as the teams headed for the dressing rooms.
Carlow flew out of the blocks in the second half with a brace of scores from brothers Chris and Jon Nolan.
Thomas Monaghan, Gavin Lee and the brilliant Conor Cooney replied for Galway before the Carlow onslaught began.
Marty Kavanagh scored three points without reply, two from frees and one from play before he was again instrumental in the move that led to Carlow’s goal.
He linked up well with Chris Nolan and while his shot was saved by Darach Fahy, Kehoe was on hand to score the rebound which would have had Galway worried.
At that stage of the game, a fresh Conor Whelan would probably have been the last thing a Carlow defender wanted to see and the Kinvara man made a huge impact, with three from play off the bench.
Further scores from Niland and Cooney saw them home but they’ll have plenty to work on before Kilkenny come to town next week.
Galway: Darach Fahy, Jack Grealish, Fintan Burke, Padraic Mannion, Sean Linnane, Adrian Tuohey (0-1),Daithi Burke, Ronan Glennon (0-1), Donal O’Shea (0-1), Gavin Lee (1-2), Tom Monaghan (0-2), John Cooney, Declan McLoughlin (0-1), Conor Cooney (1-10, 0-3f, 0-2 65) Cathal Mannion (0-3)
Subs: Evan Niland (0-1) for Declan McLoughlin (49), Conor Whelan (0-3) for Thomas Monaghan (49), David Burke for Ronan Glennon (57), Darren Morrissey for Sean Linnane (57), Joseph Cooney for Adrian Tuohey (62)
Carlow: Brian Tracey, Paul Doyle, Dion Wall, Kevin McDonald, Tony Lawlor (0-1), Niall Bolger, Jack Kavanagh, Fiachra Fitzpatrick, Richard Coady, Jon Nolan (1-1), Ciaran Whelan (0-1), Martin Kavanagh (0-8, 0-5f) , Conor Kehoe (1-0), John Michael Nolan (0-1), Chris Nolan (0-2)
Subs: Jack McCullagh for Jack Kavanagh (60), Paddy Boland for Conor Kehoe (61), Fiach O’Toole for Ciaran Whelan (65), Scott Treacy for Chris Nolan (68), Jake Doyle for John Michael Nolan (69)
Referee: Sean Stack (Dublin)
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