Connacht Senior Football Championship Semi-Final

Roscommon 4-16 Sligo 2-13

By Daragh Small at Dr Hyde Park

Ciaran Murtagh kicked 2-2 for Roscommon who avenged their 2015 defeat to defeat Sligo with a second-half comeback in the Connacht SFC semi-final at Dr Hyde Park.

Roscommon have not been in a Connacht final since they lost to Mayo in 2011 and were heavy favourites when Sligo shocked them by four points in the final four last year.

This win will give them confidence as they prepare for a clash against reigning champions Mayo or Galway.

But they were made to work hard after they trailed 2-8 to 0-6 at half-time – Adrian Marren and Kyle Cawley hit the first-half goals.

Roscommon got their first point through Conor Devaney, but Marren responded before Roscommon hit two in a row. They were the dominant side at the time and Donie Shine almost goaled in the sixth minute only for Kevin McDonnell to block his shot.

And Sligo resisted the Roscommon pressure with points from Niall Murphy and Adrian Marren to tie up the game. The teams traded scores again before Sligo took control and Pat Hughes was central to their drive.

He was fouled by Roscommon full-back Sean Mullooly for the penalty that Marren dispatched, just as he had done in last year’s semi-final, in the 22nd minute.

Ciarain Murtagh answered that with a badly needed point for Roscommon but they trailed 1-5 to 0-5. David Keenan got his second of the game, and then Marren sent over another fine point.

Hughes was on target with a huge effort from distance, and even though Sligo received a hammer blow when Marren was shown a black card for a body check on David Murray off the ball, with one minute left in the half, Sligo still surged forward.

Hughes slotted his third point from distance before Kyle Cawley raced in behind the Roscommon cover, and when his first effort was stopped by Murray on the line, he followed up to give Sligo a 2-8 to 0-6 half-time lead.

Roscommon looked down and out at half-time but they were given the ideal boost less than 40 seconds into the second-half when Senan Kilbride fisted a Niall Daly ball into the net.

Sligo settled and Mark Breheny pointed a free, but Roscommon had the momentum, and when Devaney scored his second point the margin was back to a goal in the 43rd minute.

Roscommon continued to probe and Murtagh found the equalising goal in the 50th minute. He added a point soon after and then goal from a penalty with 12 minutes remaining and Enda Smith sealed it with another goal as Daniel Maye got a late black card for Sligo.

Scorers for Roscommon: C Murtagh 2-2 (1-0 pen, 1f), D Smith 1-1, S Kilbride 1-0, D Keenan 0-3, C Devaney 0-3, D Shine 0-2, E Smith 0-2, F Cregg 0-1 (0-1f) , J McManus 0-1 , G Claffey 0-1 (1 ’45).

Scorers for Sligo: A Marren 1-3 (1-0 pen), P Hughes 0-5, Kyle Cawley 1-0, M Breheny 0-3 (0-3f), N Murphy 0-2.

Roscommon: G Claffey; S McDermott, S Mullooly, N McInerney; S Purcell, J McManus, D Murray; N Daly, D Shine; F Cregg, C Murtagh, C Devaney; S Kilbride, C Cregg, D Keenan.

Subs: N Collins for Purcell (40), E Smith for C Cregg (50), D Smith for Kilbride (59), C Compton for Shine (59), N Kilroy for F Cregg (69), J McDermott for Keenan (70).

Sligo: A Devaney; D Maye, K McDonnell, E Flanagan; Keelan Cawley, A McIntyre, B Egan; N Murphy, N Gaughan; N Ewing, M Breheny, C Harrison; A Marren, P Hughes, Kyle Cawley.

Subs: L Henry for Harrison (23), C Breheny for Marren (35, black), B Egan for Kyle Cawley (59), C Henry for Gaughan (63), J Kelly for Maye (74, black)

Referee: J  McQuillan (Cavan).