Galway 1-24

Westmeath 0-10

Conor Whelan's 17th minute goal set Galway up for an emphatic victory over a 14-man Westmeath in a one-sided Allianz Hurling League Division1 opener at Pearse Stadium.

With Killian Doyle helping himself to seven first half points, the visitors only trailed by 0-8 to 1-12 at the break, but the dismissal of Aonghus Clarke following a second yellow card in the 29th minute made it easy for Shane O'Neill's men after the restart.

Joe Canning marked his return from an injury-hit 2019 with a dozen points, while the in-form Tadhg Haran chipped in with 0-6 for the dominant Tribesmen.

Canning signalled his intent with a point inside the opening minute before a pair of Doyle frees edged the visitors ahead after five minutes. Canning and Doyle traded further points before the hosts asserted the authority with five unanswered points, which included fine efforts from Haran and Cathal Mannion.

The Mannion brothers, Padraic and Cathal, then combined to set up Whelan for the only goal which propelled Galway into a 1-7 to 0-3 lead. Westmeath replied with further frees from Doyle, but their hopes of causing an upset were all but ended by Clarke's dismissal six minutes before half-time for a high challenge on Canning.

After Sean Linnane and Cormac Boyle had exchanged points on the resumption, Galway took complete control. With Padraic Mannion acting as the spare man, they extended their advantage through scores from Haran and sub Sean Bleahane before scoring eight points without reply down the home stretch.

Galway - E Murphy; D Morrissey, G McInerney, TJ Brennan; J Coen, P Mannion, A Tuohy; S Linnane (0-1), T Haran (0-6); D Kilcommins, J Canning (0-12, 9f, 1'65), C Mannion (0-3); J Flynn, C Whelan (1-0), J Mannion. Subs: A Harte for J Coen, S Bleahene (0-1) for J Mannion, T Monaghan (0-1) for J Flynn, J Grealish for S Linnane, P Killeen for D Morrissey.

Westmeath - A McHugh; A Ennis, T Doyle, J Bermingham; S Clavin, A Clarke, A Craig; C Boyle (0-1), L Varley; K Doyle (0-7f), J Boyle, R Greville; D Clinton, E Price (0-2, 1f), N Mitchell. Subs: B Doyle for J Bermingham, J Gilligan for L Varley, C Doyle for K Doyle, A Cox for R Greville, J Galvin for E Price.

Referee - J Murphy.

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