Cathal Sweeney strike sees Galway edge past Tyrone in Omagh

Galway are off the mark with their first win of the Allianz League Division One campaign, Cathal Sweeney's second-half goal the key score as they edged out Tyrone by a single point at O’Neills Healy Park.

They trailed by two points at the break, but never lost the lead after Sweeney blasted to the net in the 49th minute to deny the Red Hands.

Tyrone, with two defeats on the spin, find themselves very much embedded in a struggle to avoid relegation, with Mayo due to vist Omagh next weekend.

But the joy of victory was somewhat diluted by a worrying injury to midfielder Paul Conroy, while on the positive side, Sean Kelly’s return for a first appearance of the season provided a huge boost for the westerners.

Rob Finnerty’s crisp fetch and point on the turn eased the Tribesmen ahead, and it was the sure handling of the Salthill-Knocknacarra man that produced another couple of classy points as the fired over three in the opening 15 minutes.

Paul Conroy was also on target from distance as the Tribesmen found a way to circumvent a packed home defence, recycling possession in search of a spare man or a yard of space.

The Red Hands were happy to hit their opponents on the breakaway, with goalkeeper Niall Morgan pressing forward to pick out Ciaran Daly for a mark, and Darragh Canavan on target from a free.

But they went 16 minutes without a score, before Peter Harte curled over a gem, followed by a Morgan effort from play, and a Darragh Canavan point, their third in as many minutes, to go in front for the first time just before the half-hour mark.

Conn Kilpatrick had a crack at goal kept out by Connor Gleeson as the Red Hands stepped up the pressure, with Morgan’s press from deep a huge element in their offensive set-up.

And they found a