Galway relied on an improved second-half-performance to earn the bragging rights against their neighbours at Cusack Park.According to RTE Sport there was little at stake, however, as Clare were already relegated and Galway had missed their opportunity to reach the Allianz NHL Division One final. The sides were tied 0-11 to 1-08 at the break, with Iarlath Tannion grabbing the goal for Galway.
Two more goals from Niall Healy, one a penalty, and a three-pointer from Aonghus Callinan put a gloss on the final scoreline from the Tribesmen's point of view. Clare got off to a good start, with two points from Tony Carmody and Mark Flaherty. However, Niall Healy matched Carmody's contribution before Tannion's goal put the visitors 0-03 to 1-02 ahead.
The Banner drew level via longe-range efforts from Alan Markham and David Barrett, before Healy put Galway back in front. Points from Markham, Barrett and Flaherty ensured that there was nothing to separate the sides at the interval. But that's as good as it got for the home side as Galway went on to dominate the rest of the game.
Healy converted his penalty with 20 minutes remaining to add to the eight points he had already registered. His second goal came five minutes later before Callinan made the Clare net rattle for the fourth time on the day to leave the score at 4-14 to 0-17. Clare outscored Galway by a point from there until the end, but the men in maroon made the short journey home as nine-point winners, RTE Sport reported.
