Galway 1-16
Donegal 0-12
Michael Meehan was once more the star of the show for Galway, as 1-9 from the stylish full-forward put Donegal to the sword in Pearse Stadium on Sunday. Three different Donegal defenders tried to dampen the Caltra-man's influence, but all three hit the road home with their tails firmly between their legs.

This match was beyond doubt after Meehan's 23rd minute rasping goal put eight points between the sides, and only a last quarter comeback from the Ulster side put respectability to the final score.

"We certainly would have settled for a seven-point win before the match," said Galway manager Liam Sammon. "Maybe we went a bit flat in the second half but it is hard enough to sustain that intensity and effort throughout a game.

"I would be happy enough with the football we are playing, but there is always room for improvement."

Galway didn't look like a side in need of improvement in the first half. Some classy forward play resulted in scores for Damien Dunleavy, Meehan, Nicky Joyce and Sean Armstrong in the opening 20 minutes which had the home crowd humming with satisfaction.

Meehan followed his goal with a quick pair of frees, and the outstanding Garreth Bradshaw claimed one for the defence on the half-hour after a sublime pass from Padraic Joyce. A short free from Meehan found Joe Bergin in acres of space and his dissection of the posts sent the hosts in at half-time leading 1-11 to 0-2.

The rampaging Bradshaw fisted another point after the restart, which saw Neil McGee yellow carded for his efforts to stop the wing-back scoring. However, seven points on the trot for Donegal — with sub Ciaran Bonner hitting three in the second-half — reduced the gap to five with five minutes remaining.

Nonetheless, it was Meehan's day and two sublime points from play capped off a man-of-the-match display from the outstanding full-forward, which earned the praise of his manager after the match.

"Michael has been playing well since last year," said Sammon. "He is an exceptional talent and it can be very difficult to contain him when he plays like that."

Galway: P Doherty; N Coyne, F Hanley, D Burke; G Bradshaw (0-2), D Blake, D Mullahy; J Bergin (0-1), B Cullinane; S Armstrong (0-1), P Joyce, M Lydon; D Dunleavy (0-2), M Meehan (1-9, four frees), N Joyce (0-1).
Subs: D Meeehan for Mullahy (23), F Breathnach for N Joyce (24), M Clancy for Breathnach (61), G Sice for Coyne (63) and D Reilly for Lydon (65).

Donegal: P Durcan; E McGee, N McGee, P McDaid; E Wade (0-2), R Sweeney, K Cassidy; R Kavanagh, C Toye (0-2); B Roper, C Dunne, D Walsh (0-1); M Murphy (0-2, one free), C McFadden (0-1 free), L Thompson.
Subs: C Bonner (0-3) for Dunne (h-t), M Maguire for Sweeney (h-t), J Gallagher for N McGee (44), S Griffin (0-1) for Thompson (47) and R Bradley for Murphy (56)

Referee: P McEnaney (Monaghan)

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