Galway's depth all too clear as they see off Roscommon

Eamon O’Shea’s men comprehensively outplayed the Rossies for long stretches of the game even if final scoreline didn't do them justice 

TRIBE JOY: Galway claimed the Connacht Senior Hurling League on Saturday night. Pic: Connacht GAA/Twitter

Connacht SHL Final: Galway 1-25 Roscommon 1-20 

Galway’s victory over Roscommon in Saturday’s Connacht Senior Hurling League final was far more comfortable than the five-point margin at the final whistle might have suggested. Eamon O’Shea’s men comprehensively outplayed the Rossies for long stretches of the game, only to lose their way late in the game when a string of excellent scores from 18 year old full forward Paddy Fallon halved the deficit.

O’Shea, who assembled this development squad exclusively from seven junior clubs in the county, said after the game that simply competing in this competition represented a success story, but those in attendance were left in no doubt as to the incredible depth that exists in the county.

All six starting forwards had scored from play for the Tribesmen by the 20th minute, though Roscommon led at that stage of the game through a close range Brendan Mulry goal.

However the second quarter was utterly dominated by Galway, as they suffocated the Roscommon attack, got great ball into the forward division, and kicked on after Eamonn Trayers goal to lead by 1-16 to 1-7 at the interval.

The contest never really caught fire after half-time, as Roscommon made a host of changes and woeful inaccuracy plagued both sides. A total of 33 wides – 14 for Galway – killed all the momentum of the contest. While there were moments of real quality from Mickey Joe Egan and Fallon on the Roscommon side, with Donall Ó Cualán, Trayers, Shane Kelly and Ryan Folan picking off excellent points for the winners, the sharpness and power that Galway displayed to build up their interval lead was never replicated.

Scorers for Galway: E Trayers 1-3, S McDonagh 0-6 (0-5f), D Ó Cualán 0-4, R Folan 0-3, D Newell 0-1, S Joyce 0-1, D Ó Murchú 0-1, B Horgan 0-1, D hÉallaithe 0-1, R Duffy 0-1, S Kelly 0-1, J Mitchell 0-1, B Ó’Conghaíle 0-1.

Scorers for Roscommon: P Fallon 0-11 (0-7f), B Mulry 1-1, MJ Egan 0-2, M Comerford 0-2, P Kelly 0-1, E Flanagan 0-1, Conor Mulry 0-1, Cormac Mulry 0-1.

Galway: B Murphy; G McGuinness, S Burke, M Ó Béarra; D Ó hÉallaithe, E Naughton, B Horgan; D Ó Murchú, N Cox; D Ó Cualán, D Newell, S Joyce; S McDonagh, E Trayers, R Folan. Subs: R Duffy for Joyce (48), T Collins for Cox (48), B Ó Conghaíle for Folan (52), S Kelly for Ó Murchú (55), S Fallon for Newell (64), R Ó Beoláin for Trayers (65), K Gleeson for Ó hÉallaithe (67), T Halliday for Ó Cualán (69), J Mitchell for Ó Béarra (69), R Ryan for McDonagh (69), K Ó Conghaíle for Murphy (70).

Roscommon: E Lawless; D Mullen, J Dillon, M Ward; J Brennan, C Cosgrove, P Kelly; P Brennan, J Dowling; R Conlon, E Flanagan, C Mulry; B Mulry, P Fallon, MJ Egan.Subs: E Ward for Conlon (h-t), E Fitzgerald for Flanagan (h-t), E Mulry for J Brennan (h-t), T Fleming for M Ward (h-t), M Comerford for Dowling (43), G Egan for Dillon (61), A Donnelly for B Mulry (61), K Brennan for Mullen (61), Cormac Mulry for Conor Mulry (61), M Brennan for Egan (61).

Referee: M Connolly (Sligo).