By John Fallon

Galway’s bid for immediate promotion back to the top flight got off to the best possible start when they dished out a 26 points hammering to Offaly in their own backyard in Tullamore.

Micheal Donoghue’s men, relegated last season, were lethal from the outset as they put a poor Offaly side to the sword.

Offaly were in trouble from the early stages when Jason Flynn, who finished with 2-10, hit them for 1-2 in the opening six minutes against the wind.

That left Offaly with little chance of building an opening half lead when they had the wind and they were on a damage limitation exercise by half-time when they turned around trailing by 4-9 to 1-8.

Galway looked dangerous every time they went forward and showed little mercy throughout as they bid to mount a serious promotion challenge.

Flynn’s early burst helped Galway build a solid foundation and they were ten points up by the break.

Offaly failed to score from play in the second-half against the wind with Shane Dooley was their only scorer after the restart when he converted four frees.

It was sorry stuff against a rampant Galway side who scored from all angles and by the end nine of the Tribesmen were on the scoresheet.

Kevin Ryan’s Offaly needed a big start but Flynn’s burst put paid to that.

Sean Cleary eventually got Offaly off the mark after seven minutes, while points from Sean Ryan, Shane Dooley and Cillian Kiely instilled some hope.

But the Tribesmen carved open the home defence with ease and Conor Whelan soloed in from the right for a goal after 18 minutes, before Cleary responded with a good strike to the net for Offaly.

Flynn, who had 2-7 in the bag by half-time, got through for his second goal of the match.

A couple of frees from Dooley gave them some hope but Galway pulled away and captain David Burke blasted home their fourth goal before the break.

It was all one-way traffic after the restart with Offaly’s cause suffering a further blow when interval substitute Dermott Shortt picked up two yellow cards in less than ten minutes.

Whelan blasted home his second goal, while sub Brian Molloy got Galway’s sixth goal after 54 minutes and they continued to pull further ahead.

Scorers:

Galway: J Flynn 2-10 (0-8f), C Whelan 2-0, C Cooney 0-6 (0-1f), D Burke 1-1, B Molloy 1-0, J Cooney 0-3, A Tuohy 0-1, N Burke 0-1, J Coen 0-1.

Scorers for Offaly: S Dooley 0-8 (0-8f), S Cleary 1-1, C Kiely 0-2, S Ryan 0-1.

Galway: C Callanan; M Donohoe; J Hanbury, P Killeen; A Harte, A Tuohy, G McInerney; J Coen, D Burke; D Glennon, J Cooney, P Flaherty; C Whelan, J Flynn, C Cooney.

Subs used: B Molloy for Flaherty (28), S Maloney for Whelan (51), M Conneely for Harte (51), N Burke (0-01) for Glennon (51), T Monaghan for Flynn (60).

Offaly: J Dempsey; P Rigney, M Cleary, D Maloney; A Treacy, C Doughan, B Conneely; P Murphy, C Kiely; S Dooley, S Gardiner, E Nolan; S Ryan, O Kelly, S Cleary.

Subs used: P Camon for Maloney (36), D Shortt for Rigney (36), J Mulrooney for Nolan (36), P Geraghty for Kelly (54), T Carroll for Cleary (59).

Referee: C Lyons (Cork)