Round-up: Connacht FBD Football League
Luke Gilmartin, Sligo, and Ciaran McKeon, London, in Connacht FBD League action. Photo by Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile
Connacht FBD League
Saturday
Mayo 1-17 Sligo 1-11
Galway 3-19 London 0-4
Sunday
London 1-11 Sligo 0-14
Roscommon 5-17 Leitrim 0-14
Andy Moran’s tenure in charge of his native Mayo got out to a successful start in Charlestown on Saturday when his experimental team rallied from five points down 10 minutes into the second half to pick up a win over Sligo and send them to Dr. Hyde Park next Sunday in good form.
Lee and Shane Deignan impressed for Sligo scoring 0-8 between them for the visitors to Fr. O’Hara Park, with Sligo taking control of the game in the 20 minutes either side of half-time. A couple of long-range frees from Rob Hennelly had put Mayo into a good position, but Paul Kilcoyne’s goal levelled the game, Joshua Flynn kicked Sligo into the lead by half-time and then the Deignans and Cian Lally stretched that lead further.
After going scoreless for 16 minutes, Darragh Beirne ended Mayo’s drought and they were by far the better team after emptying the bench, Cathal Keaveney and Conor McHale kicking two points each while Enda Hession got the goal that clinched their win.
A completely different Sligo team was in action on Sunday against London, where Niall Murphy’s sixth point of the afternoon secured a share of the spoils.
Kyle Cawley’s early two-pointer and scores from Luke Gilmartin and David Quinn pushed the Yeats County two points ahead by half-time in the first of two games played at the Connacht COE this afternoon, however London found their groove after the interval, shoring things up defensively and hitting the front with ten minutes to play through Shay Rafter’s fisted effort on goal that was deemed to have narrowly crossed the line.
They couldn’t quite hold on however and it fell to Murphy to kick the last three points, twice drawing Sligo level.
It was a much happier afternoon for London than yesterday evening against Galway when they scored just four times, all from frees, against a rampant Galway side that featured just four players who were involved in last year’s All-Ireland quarter-final defeat to Meath.
Colm Costello (1-6) and Ciarán Mulhern (2-1) led the way for the Tribesmen up front with Pádraic Joyce using 22 players by the 35th minute.
The last action of the weekend saw a mixed Roscommon team, shorn of their St. Brigid’s and Strokestown contingent and a few more who attended Enda Smith’s wedding, run up a 5-17 to 0-14 win over Leitrim.
Mark O’Dowd saw his charges explode out of the blocks with three early goals from Cian McKeon, Diarmuid Murtagh and Jack Tumulty and another from Murtagh before the interval left it 4-10 to 0-8, Darragh Heneghan also chipping in with some impressive scores from the half-forward line for the winners.
Tom Prior and Mark Diffley got some nice points after half-time for Leitrim but Roscommon kept the pressure on, Oisín Cregg adding goal number five late in the game.
