Dalata Hotel Group Connacht U20 FC: Roscommon through to final

DALATA HOTEL GROUP CONNACHT U20FC SEMI-FINAL

ROSCOMMON 2-10 (2-0-10) GALWAY 0-15 (0-1-13)

Kevin Egan at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park

Roscommon dominated the kickout battle, Galway were much more accurate in front of the posts, but it’s Roscommon who advanced to next Wednesday night’s Dalata Hotel Group Connacht U-20 final by the skin of their teeth, in no small part due to the incredible impact made by towering attacker Ruairí Kilcline after he was introduced to the Rossie attack for the last 20 minutes.

The value of his six foot six frame was in evidence for the game’s crucial score, Roscommon’s second goal, scored with ten minutes to play.

Michael Gillooly’s interception of a floating Galway handpass set up the attack but when the ball was worked to Cathal McKeon on the right hand side of the attack, all the Boyle man had to do was just float a gentle kick pass across the square and sure enough Kilcline got the crucial touch to flick the ball to the net.

Two points, one off each boot, showed that Kilcline was well able to strike the ball as well and that finished was vital on a day when Roscommon kicked 12 wides to Galway’s three, including two straightforward opportunities to kick vital insurance points in stoppage time.

Galway struggled to get their hands on the ball, going long stretches without winning a kickout at times, but yet they seemed to hold possession for the majority of the game.

In the opening 20 minutes, they turned that into good scoring chances with some slick running and kick passing that opened up the Rossie defence.

Conor Grogan fired over the opening point for the winners but strong running from Shay McGlinchey left Roscommon chasing back and enabled a handy equaliser from his club colleague Cian Mitchell, kicking off a run of four consecutive scores from Galway that yielded 0-5.

Brian O’Malley finished off a fast break, Matthew Collins sent a high, looping kick over the crossbar while Mikey Mulryan landed the only two-pointer of the half, and a couple of really good strip tackles from Michael Gillooly and Diarmuid O’Higgins were crucial to Roscommon staying as close as they did.

They needed a spark up front however, and they got it from John McGuinness, who exploded down the centre with a perfectly timed run before rattling the top corner of the net midway through the half.

Galway continued to look that bit more potent up front with Cian Mitchell, Ciarán Mulhern and Richard McGrath going well in the trenches, pushing their lead out to four while Roscommon’s wide count continued to mount.

Scores from Grogan and Cathal McKeon before half time left two in it at the turnaround, but Galway made sure to kill that momentum with three quickfire scores, all from the boot of Ross Coen, in just three minutes after half-time.

There was no goal to take Roscommon off the ropes this time, but Charlie O’Carroll won and converted a free and gradually, building on their midfield dominance where Eoghan Carthy dominated, they worked their way back into the game.

Galway kicked a mere one point in the space of 26 minutes of football, during which time Kilcline hit his trio of scores, nudging Roscommon 2-10 to 0-13 ahead before points from McGrath and Mulryan left the bare minimum in it at the end.

SCORERS FOR ROSCOMMON: Ruairí Kilcline 1-2, Charlie O’Carroll 0-4f, John McGuinness 1-0, Conor Grogan 0-2, Cathal McKeon 0-1, Eoin Collins 0-1.

SCORERS FOR GALWAY: Mikey Mulryan 0-5 (1tp, 0-1f), Ross Coen 0-3, Cian Mitchell 0-1, Matthew Collins 0-1, Ciarán Mulhern 0-1f, Eoinín Ó Cualáin 0-1, Brian O’Malley 0-1, Richard McGrath 0-1.

ROSCOMMON: Patrick Gaynor; Diarmuid O'Higgins, Michael Gillooly, Nikita Berzins; Conor Grogan, Keelan Kelly, Eoghan Carthy; Niall Heneghan, Cathal Enright; Cathal McKeon, John McGuinness, Eoin Collins; John Curran, Dean Casey, Charlie O'Carroll. Subs: Ruairí Kilcline for Casey (39), Colin Murray for Grogan (54), Declan Kennedy for Collins (59), Kevin Hester for Curran (60)

GALWAY: Brian Carroll; Vincent Gill, Olan Kelly, Daniel Hughes; Cian Mitchell, Richard McGrath, Brian Molloy; Shay McGlinchey, Patrick Keaney; Ciarán Mulhern, Ross Coen, Maitiú Ó Domhnaill; Eoinín Ó Cualáin, Mikey Mulryan, Matthew Collins. Subs: Conor Mannion for Hughes (9), Killian Joyce for Collins (50), Ciarán O’Donnell for Ó Domnhnaill (53), Cian Rafferty for O’Malley (59), Ciarán McDonagh for Gill (60+4).

REFEREE: Ronan Hynes (Sligo).