Galway see off 14-man Tyrone in sodden Salthill

Shane Walsh kicked half a dozen points as Connacht champions Galway did enough to see off Tyrone in wet conditions at Pearse Stadium in Salthill.

Galway led by 0-07 to 0-04 at the end of an eventful opening half which saw Tyrone reduced to 13 men at one stage in a game where outbursts of heavy rain made the surface slippery.

The sides were deadlocked at 0-03 apiece after 12 minutes following a lively opening, with Shane Walsh landing a couple of points from play and Johnny Heaney also finding the target for Galway as they enjoyed the backing of the breeze.

Tyrone kept in touch with Darren McCurry, Darragh Canavan and Cormac Quinn kicking good points before Cillian McDaid went forward to score and Walsh landed a free from 40 metres to lead by 0-05 to 0-03 at the end of the opening quarter.

But then Tyrone wing-forward Frank Burns was sent off for a clumsy high challenge which caught Galway defender Jack Glynn in the face after 18 minutes.

Paul Conroy extended Galway's lead and then after Ian Burke picked up a yellow card for a high tackle on Peter Harte, Tyrone goalkeeper Niall Morgan was black-carded for dissent.

Tyrone kept their shape well while down to 13 men and only conceded a point in that time when Peter Cooke picked off a good effort.

Tyrone finished the half well with McCurry converting a free to cut the gap to three at the interval.

Tyrone outscored Galway by 0-03 to 0-01 in the opening eleven minutes of the second-half with Mattie Donnelly, McCurry and Canavan finding the range, cutting the gap to the minimum after Cooke fisted over an effort for Galway.

Efforts from Walsh and Matthew Tierney extended Galway’s lead to 0-10 to 0-07 at the end of the third quarter.

The sides exchanged points three times in the next seven