Connacht Senior Football Championship semi-final

GALWAY 2-11   ROSCOMMON 0-12

Kevin Egan at Dr. Hyde Park

Galway are the first team in the country to have secured their place in a 2021 senior football provincial final, after goals from Paul Kelly and Matthew Tierney proved crucial in a physical encounter with Roscommon this afternoon.

The home side hadn’t beaten Galway at Dr. Hyde Park in the championship since 1990 and when the heavens opened early in the game, it looked as if the conditions might suit the more experienced Rossies, who were always likely to prefer a low-scoring battle.  

In many facets of play, the Rossies were hugely competitive. The kickout battle was evenly contested, the damp and greasy conditions suited defenders and made for plenty of errors on both sides, but while there were plenty of turnovers in both columns, it was Galway who made those turnovers count that bit better, particularly for Tierney’s goal.

This was modern football throughout, as evidenced by the fact that three of the first eight points were scored by corner backs (one from Seán Kelly and two from Conor Daly), while Roscommon wing back Conor Hussey added another. The respective dangermen on both sides were well policed, though Paul Kelly was able to sneak in for a crucial goal after 22 minutes, taking a handpass from Paul Cooke after his Moycullen colleague quietly drifted in behind the Roscommon full back line. Cooke had already missed the target with one goal chance after a similar ghosting manoeuvre, but he made sure to make his second chance count.

Enda Smith put in a towering performance at midfield and a fine score from the Boyle man meant it was finely poised at half time, 1-5 to 0-7, with no real wind advantage from there on.

The Galway defence took over from there however, suffocating the Rossie attack and reducing their forward division to just two points from play, with a third coming from substitute Cathal Cregg in his brief period on the field.

Quietly and subtly, the Tribesmen crept two and three points ahead, largely through excellent dead ball scores from Shane Walsh and Matthew Tierney. As the game moved into the last ten minutes, Roscommon were forced to chase the game and that left them vulnerable to the counter attack. One spilled ball from Ciarán Murtagh just ten metres out from the Galway goal led to a swift counter attack up the field, and after Roscommon failed to clear a spilled possession, Tierney was able to strike the ball along the deck and into the bottom corner of Colm Lavin’s net.

Late efforts from Enda Smith and Brian Stack fizzed over rather than under the crossbar as the home side tried to chase the game, but the breakthrough never looked like coming and it was Galway who secured their Connacht final slot, while Roscommon join the lengthy list of counties whose championship season has already come to an end.

Scorers for Galway: Matthew Tierney 1-3 (0-2f, 0-1 45), Paul Kelly 1-2, Shane Walsh (0-2f) & Robert Finnerty 0-2 each, Sean Kelly & Damien Comer 0-1 each.

Scorers for Roscommon: Enda Smith 0-3, Donie Smith (0-1 45) & Conor Daly 0-2, Diarmuid Murtagh, Conor Hussey, Cathal Cregg, Ciarán Murtagh (f) & Brian Stack 0-1 each.

Galway:  Connor Gleeson; Seán Kelly, Seán Mulkerrin, Liam Silke; Kieran Molloy, Dylan McHugh, Johnny Heaney; Paul Conroy, Matthew Tierney; Damien Comer, Peter Cooke, Finnian Ó Laoí; Robert Finnerty, Paul Kelly, Shane Walsh.

Subs: Cathal Sweeney for Ó Laoí (62), Johnny Duane for P Kelly (67), Eamonn Brannigan for Walsh (67), Pádraig Costello for Finnerty (70), Tom Flynn for Conroy (70+3).

Roscommon: Colm Lavin; Brian Stack, Conor Daly, David Murray; Conor Hussey, Niall Daly, Seán Mullooly; Eddie Nolan, Enda Smith; Niall Kilroy, Ciaráin Murtagh, Shane Killoran; Conor Cox, Donie Smith, Diarmuid Murtagh.

Subs: Tadhg O’Rourke for Nolan (19), Cathal Cregg for Killoran (41), Conor Devaney for Cregg (47), Ultan Harney for Cox (54).

Referee: Joe McQuillan (Cavan)