Galway U20 footballer, Colm Costello.
EirGrid Connacht U20 Football Championship
GALWAY 0-6 ROSCOMMON 0-6
SLIGO 2-11 LEITRIM 1-14
Another remarkable night in the Eirgrid Connacht U-20 football championship saw two more draws played out in the local derbies at Markievicz Park and Dr. Hyde Park, meaning that all five teams are still in the hunt for the three knockout places going into next week’s final round of games.
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, but the other four counties will all go into next week’s games at Ballinamore and Castlebar knowing that they need to win to be sure of extending their season.
Galway may have their regrets at failing to hold onto a two-point lead when playing with the wind with ten minutes remaining at the Hyde, but 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 Shane 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.
In keeping with this incredible championship, there was still time for two more scores, with Cian Murphy kicking a gorgeous lead point for Galway before McGinley earned and converted a close-range free to leave the sides tied at 0-6 apiece.
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 TUS Midlands 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.