Sligo’s minor footballers made their exit from the Connacht
championships in Tuam on Friday as they found the sharp shooting forward line
too hot to handle.
It was the second time that the sides met in this year’s competition
and as was the case in the second 2nd round clash at Markievicz
Park, it was Galway’s ability to finish when the opportunity presented itself
that made the difference.
In truth this game was lost in the first six minutes. After
a bright early attack on the town end goal that that should have yielded their first
score, Sligo were quickly pinned back into their own half by a dominant Galway midfield
led by the excellent Jack Lonergan. In a ruthless display of finishing by the Galway
forward line, and centre forward Cormac Costello in particular, the home side had
1-4 on the scoreboard without a reply before Sligo crossed the half way line
again.
Ronan Niland got Sligo off the mark with a free after seven
minutes and there was a brief glimmer of hope when Cian Carty bundled in a goal
after 10 minutes following good approach work by Niland.
The hope was short lived however as Galway full forward Eanna
Monaghan got in on the scoring with three successive points to move the margin up
to eight points after 15 minutes.
It is to Sligo’s credit that they didn‘t let their heads drop
and that they actually outscored their opponents in the remaining 45 minutes of
the game without ever looking like they would overcome the deficit
There was a six-point gap, 1-10 to 1-4, in Galway’s favour at
half time and the home side maintained the tempo with three points in quick
succession on the restart. Sligo had a brief surge with Cian Carty scoring two excellent
points from play but Galway effectively closed the game out with a goal and point
in quick succession to stretch the score out to 2-14 to 1-6 with 20 minutes
still to play.
As the pace of the game lowered and both sides made substitutions,
Sligo never stopped showing and were rewarded with excellent scores form Tommy
Ross – who finished the game with three points from play, Daniel King, and Ryan Gillespie. Galway added a further 1-3
to finish out on 3-16 to Sligo 1-13, a nine point margin, the greater proportion
of which was conceded in Galway’s opening scoring burst.
GALWAY: K. Gilmore; T. Farthing, A. Colleran, V. Gill;
M. Mannion, C. Trayers, R. Coen; J. Lonergan, S. McGlinchey; S. Dunne (0-2), É.
Monaghan (1-9, 0-8 f), O. Morgan; S. Curley (0-1), C. Costello (1-3), C. Cox
(1-0). Subs: P. McNeela, for Trayers, 48 mins; F. O'Connor for Cox, 49 mins; J.
Summerville for Lonergan, 51 mins; O. Kelly for Dunne, 54 mins; L. Carr for
Monaghan, 56 mins.
SLIGO: D. Henry; R. O'Hehir, O. Conlon, D. King (0-1);
R. O'Callaghan, R. O'Kelly-Lynch, T. Ross (0-3); R. Gillespie (0-1), D. Walsh;
T. Bailey, R. Niland (captain, 0-4 all frees), C. Carty (1-2); E. Rooney (0-1),
S. O'Neill, J. Foley. Subs: A. O'Hara, for Conlon inj., 22 mins; C. Flynn, for
O'Neill, 41 mins; G. Lynch (0-1), for Walsh inj., 44 mins; A. Mullen, for
Bailey, 51 mins.