Sligo cruise
to victory
Sligo 2-14
Longford 0-9
By Cathal Mullaney
The
Sligo Minor team put themselves right into the reckoning for honours next
weekend in the Connacht Minor League when they defeated Longford by 11 points
at Markievicz Park last Saturday afternoon.
A
solid opening half display was followed by a superb second half showing, where
the home side outscored the visitors by ten points.
The
opening half saw Sligo attempt to break down a defensive Longford side with
numerous men behind the ball. However, Sligo unlocked the defence in the 12th
minute when Kyle Cawley rifled the ball to the net having received a pass from
Paul Kilcoyne.
Sligo’s
tally came to 1-2 by the break with Cawley and Nathan Rooney on target, but
Longford ensured only a single point separated the sides at the interval after
they fired over the final three scores of the half.
Nonetheless,
Sligo proved to be wholly dominant in the second half. Reeling off ten points
in a row, with Liam Gaughan being the focal point of the attack, Aidan Rooney’s
side effortlessly dismantled the Leinster side with Gaughan (2) and Nathan
Rooney (3) contributing half of this ten point total.
Cian
Lally put a further shine on the scoreboard when he fisted to the net after
Finnian Cawley played a good ball in and Sligo ended up 11 point winners, with
next week’s meeting with Mayo (Enniscrone, 5.30pm) likely to decide where this
year’s Connacht Minor League title will go.
Sligo:
E Kilgannon; B Mahon (0-1), E McGuinness, M O’Dowd; N Mullen, F Cawley, S
Power; P Kilcoyne (0-1), K Banks; L Gaughan (0-4, 1f), R Kennedy (0-1), S
Carrabine (0-1); K Cawley(1-2), N Rooney (0-4), M Gordon. Subs: A McLoughlin
for Rooney (52), J McHugh for K Cawley (52),A Kearns for O'Dowd (52) C Lally (1-0) for Carrabine (52) D
Murphy for Power (52), O Gilmartin for Banks (55).
Longford:
M Hughes; J Moran, R Shehan, C Lee (0-1); M Cahill (0-1), C Farrell, K Sorohan;
E Farrell, C Berry (0-1, 1f); C Finnan, C Brady, P Lynn (0-2); J Kelly, J
Mathews (0-2, 1f), D Doherty. Subs: C McCabe for Brady (24) T McGann (0-1) for
Kelly (HT), R Moffitt for Moran (39), P Hanley for Berry (44), R Brady for D
Doherty (49), D McCarthy (0-1).
Referee:
D O’Connor (New York)