Roscommon claw Galway back to secure share of the spoils

Galway may have their regrets at failing to hold onto a two-point lead when playing with the wind with ten minutes remaining.

Wed, 10 Apr, 2024 - 21:34

Kevin Egan, Dr Hyde Park

Connacht U20 football championship: Roscommon 0-6 Galway 0-6

Another remarkable night in the Connacht U20 football championship saw two more draws played out, meaning that all five teams are still in the hunt for the three knockout places going into next week’s final round of games, while Galway – who have their four round robin games played – will either play a semi-final or a final, following tonight’s draw at Dr. Hyde Park.

Galway may have their regrets at failing to hold onto a two-point lead when playing with the wind with ten minutes remaining, and they’ll certainly feel that at least one of the three frees converted by Shane McGinley in the second half might not have been awarded by referee Barry Judge.

They will also know that the key moment in the game was a stunning save by goalkeeper Eamon McGrath in the second half to deny McGinley.

Roscommon played their best football in the early stages of this windswept, damp encounter, though they failed to create clearcut chances, and had just 0-2 on the board after 20 minutes, the scores coming from Rory Hester and Rob Heneghan.

Four of their wides arrived in this period too while they controlled a lot of possession, but the contest turned when Colm Costello kicked a sublime score from the left hand sideline to get Galway off the mark with 22 minutes played.

By the interval he had added a second score of similar quality, either side of a Matthew Thompson free, to put the Tribesmen into a commanding position.

A mark from Conor Heneghan five minutes into the second half doubled the advantage, and in the context of this game, 0-4 to 0-2 felt like a big lead, but like Roscommon, Galway struggled with the diagonal breeze and failed to kick on, despite Shay McGlinchey and Heneghan performing well in the battle for primary possession in the middle.

McGinley kicked two dead ball scores either side of his low ground shot that drew a fantastic reflex save from McGrath, while Cian Murphy also fired a score for the Galway men in between, and that left Roscommon chasing an equaliser, which they eventually engineered through Niall O’Donnell, assisted by good play from Heneghan and McGinley.

For their part, Galway calmly controlled the restart, worked the ball down the pitch and fed Murphy, whose kick from the right wing swung delightfully inside the near post.

That left the Rossies with 60 seconds to salvage their third draw in succession, and after Conor Ryan claimed the kickout, the ball was worked into McGinley, 30 metres out from goal. With two tacklers converging on him, he dropped the ball and attempted to dribble it towards goal before bending to pick it again, drawing the hit that ensured a 20 metre free and yet another deadlock.

It was also level pegging at Markievicz Park with the hosts equalising late, though in a very different fashion.

Sligo, the reigning Connacht champions, came into this game without a win but looked well set to end that record when Eli Rooney, Conor Flynn and Rossa Sloyan kicked the game off with three points in the first four minutes. A black card for centre forward Ronan Niland slowed down the Yeats County however, and by the midway point in the half, Leitrim were back on level terms despite playing into the teeth of a strong sea breeze.

Conor Flynn took full advantage of a turnover move to drive a low-left footed shot to the corner of the Leitrim net on 18 minutes and when Sligo added the net two points through Rooney and Sloyan, they had a solid footing again – until they conceded four points on the spin before half-time.

Leitrim nudged their way in front after the interval with Jack Casey kicking some outstanding scores, and a goal from Darren Cox put six between the sides with 48 minutes gone.

Sligo’s response was exemplary however as they took over for the final quarter, largely on the back of Luke Marren. The ATU Sligo student shot 1-4 in his 20 minutes on the field, including a penalty in the fifth minute of stoppage time, to ensure a 2-11 to 1-14 draw.

Scorers for Roscommon: S McGinley 0-3f, R Hester 0-1, R Heneghan 0-1, N O’Donnell 0-1.

Scorers for Galway: C Costello 0-2, C Murphy 0-2, M Thompson 0-1f, C Heneghan 0-1m.

ROSCOMMON: S Allen; E Carthy, C Harley, E Kerins; D Hagney, D Casey, J McGreal; S Lambe, S Walsh; R Heneghan, C Ryan, R Hester; S McGinley, A McGreal, B Nugent.

Subs: R Dowling for A McGreal (half-time), R Conlon for Hester (35), E O’Reilly for J McGreal (39), O O’Flaherty for Walsh (47), N O’Donnell for O’Reilly (54).

GALWAY: E McGrath; B Noone, S Canavan, D Costello; M Mannion, R Coen, J Folan; S McGlinchey, C Heneghan; C Mulhern, R Colleran, J Lonergan; M Thompson, C Costello, C Murphy.

Subs: J Mullen for Colleran (46), L O’Connor for Folan (51), P Godwin for Lonergan (60).

REFEREE: B Judge (Sligo).