Galway Junior footballers knock out Sligo

By NOEL CARNEY Galway .1-16 Sligo .0-16 A SPIRITED Galway team ended the Sligo hoodoo of recent years in the Connacht Junior Football Championship when the sides met at Kilcoyne Park, Tubbercurry last Friday evening. The Yeats County were denied a hat-trick of successive wins over the visitors by a storming finish amid great excitement towards the end of â€Ëœnormal' time and a scoring blitz when extra-time commenced. It was a victory that was as surprising as it was welcome as Sligo were in control for most of the second period and looked the team more likely to advance to a provincial semi-final clash with Mayo. But Galway, although struggling to find rhythm and cohesion and making many basic errors, were always spirited and their resilience paid off in a dramatic finale. Twice they trailed by four points in the second half and it was 0-12 to 0-8 for the Black and Whites with only four minutes remaining but a Peadar Seoige point was [private] followed by a superb Cathal Coleman goal and even though John Scanlon immediately grabbed what seemed to be a winning point at the other end in the final minute, Seoige struck a sensational leveller after good work by Coleman. A purple patch in the first half of extra-time saw Galway surge clear with five unanswered points and even though Sligo fought tooth and nail and cut the deficit to a goal they were unable to get any closer. It was a hard result for the losers to take after a win was theirs for the taking late on, only for the visitors to snatch it from their grasp. The Galway team this year has a management 'troika' of Matt Duggan (Annaghdown), Tim Rabbitt (Athenry, formerly an Oranmore-Maree player) and Mike Walsh (Oughterard) and their side did well in the early stages. Backed by a strong wind, they created several chances to build a lead only for their forwards to waste many opportunities. They seemed set to pay dearly for their squander-mania when the home team, managed by Galway midfield legend Kevin Walsh who won an All-Ireland title with the Yeats County at this level a couple of years ago, took command, drew level by the break and surged clear after it. Their opponents however had other ideas and their persistence finally paid off in a nail-biting finish. Team captain Eoin Joyce had been Galway's only scorer for most of the opening period. He gave them the lead early on and kicked two super scores from long distance frees but the energetic Martin Coady, who ran himself to a standstill all evening, broke through the Yeats County defence and punched a point in time added on for stoppages. Those four scores were enough to keep Galway on level terms as Sligo also had a quartet of white flags in their account. Brian Egan got three of those, all from play, and centre-forward Niall Murphy completed the halfway tally. Kevin Walsh's men would have been happy with that situation though, as Galway had kicked seven wides in just over twenty minutes when playing with the aid of the elements although the hosts did send five opportunities off target themselves. The Galway defence were impressive early in that half with Neil Walsh solid between the posts, the full-line of Chris O'Toole, Fergus O'Toole and Richie Hynes unyielding when danger threatened and outside them Declan Rattigan, Conor Leyden and Mark Healy were keeping their opponents quiet and were also ready to advance. Eamon Ó Cuiv and Aidan Geraghty started brightly but the Sligo pairing of Shane McManus and James Clarke were improving as the half wore on and their team as a whole was improving significantly. They re-started where they left off and it was all Sligo when play resumed. Three points, two of them by defenders, in the opening four minutes gave Galway plenty to do. James Leonard, Mark Quinn with a monster of a wind-assisted kick from well beyond midfield and John Scanlon made it 0-7 to 0-4. Cathal Coleman, quickly making his presence felt after his introduction, pulled one back for the Maroon and White but it was answered by big full-forward Kevin Byrne. Declan Rattigan, a classy player who can attack or defend equally well, got a brace of points for the visitors in a ten-minute spell but Niall Murphy (2) and Vincent Frizzell had boosted the home tally in between those scores and it was 0-11 to 0-7 in favour of Kevin Walsh's men after twenty minutes of the second half. To make matters worse, Galway's play was ragged with passes going astray and players taking wrong options. Martin Coady, an All-Ireland minor medal winner under Alan Mulholland, got the first score of the half for a starting forward after a wonderful run from deep by Conor Leyden but again it was followed by a Sligo score when sub Alan Taaffe converted a free. Crucially however, Galway were full of belief and hunger and they went close to a goal when Coady made a sensational run at speed into the defence only for the ball to be scrambled clear in a goalmouth melee. It was 0-12 to 0-8 at that stage but Peadar Seoige cut the gap to a goal after taking a neat Eoin Joyce pass and the margin was down to a goal. Suddenly the gap was closed at a stroke when a flowing Galway move ended with Cathal Coleman collecting the ball and blasting it to the net from the edge of the square. As quickly as the Galway cheers rose, they died again as Sligo responded with a John Scanlon point as time ran out. Galway launched a do-or-die assault from the kick-out. They attacked up the right wing; Cathal Coleman delivered a fine kicked pass to Peadar Seoige and the Aran Islands man kept his nerve and drove straight and true between the posts: Galway 1-10 Sligo 0-13. A devastated Sligo had been caught at the winning post and the momentum was with Galway now. Sure enough, when extra-time commenced the visitors took over. Martin Coady after a searing run, Robert Hughes who made a huge difference at midfield when he entered the fray, Cathal Coleman with a super drive from way out on the left wing, Eoin Joyce leading by example and Coady again after great work by Hughes put Galway 1-15 to 0-13 ahead at the break. Sligo, to their credit, launched a spirited fight-back in the remaining ten-minute spell. Brian Egan burst through but his shot went over the bar when it might well have gone under it, and it was Martin Coady of all people who broke up the next attack. Still, Sligo drove on and Egan again got inside the defence but rolled the ball wide with only the goalkeeper to beat. Robert Hughes steadied a nervous Galway with a well taken point but further points by Johnny Martyn and John Scanlon cut the deficit to a goal, 1-16 to 0-16, with three minutes remaining. It was tense, it was exciting and from a Sligo point of view it was frustrating but somehow Eoin Joyce and his men held on for a heart-warming victory that was certainly hard-earned.    For Galway, there were particularly good performances by goalie Neil Walsh, Declan Rattigan, Conor Leyden, Eamon Ó Cuiv, Peadar Seoige, Martin Coady and Eoin Joyce, while subs Eddie O'Sullivan, Cathal Coleman and Robert Hughes did very well, too. Vinny Cadden, Johnny Martyn, Kevin Cryan, Mark Quinn, James Clarke, Niall Murphy, John Scanlon and Brian Egan played well for Sligo. Galway: N. Walsh (Headford); C. O'Toole (Oughterard), F. O'Toole (An Spidéal), R. Hynes (Athenry); D. Rattigan (Dunmore MacHales, 0-2), C. Leyden (Oranmore-Maree), M. Healy (Athenry); E. Ó Cuiv (An Fhairche), A. Geraghty (Glenamaddy-Glinsk); P. Seoige (Oiléain ÃÂrann, 0-2), A. Molloy (Corofin), M. Coady (Oughterard, 0-4); S. Feeney (Micheál Breathnachs), N. Meenaghan (Headford), E. Joyce, captain (An Fhairche 0-4, two frees). Subs., R. Hughes (Menlough, 0-2), for Healy; C. Coleman (Monivea-Abbey, 1-2), for Feeney; E. O'Sullivan (Oughterard), for C. O'Toole, inj., C. Ó Domhnaill (Oileain ÃÂrann), for Geraghty; L. Carney (An Fhairche), for Hynes; P. Whelehan (Ballinasloe), for Meenaghan. Sligo: V. Cadden (Coolera-Strandhill); G. Gilsenan (St Molaise's Gaels), J. Martyn (St Mary's, 0-1), K. Cryan (Eastern Harps); D. O'Connor (St Mary's), M. Quinn (St Molaise's Gaels, 0-1), J. Leonard (Tourlestrane, 0-1); S. McManus (Geevagh), J. Clarke (St Patrick's); V. Frizzell (Bunanadden, 0-1), N. Murphy (Coolera-Strandhill, 0-3), P. McTiernan (St Michael's); J. Scanlon (St John's, 0-3), K. Byrne (Geevagh, 0-1), B. Egan (Tourlestrane, 0-4). Subs., A. Taaffe (St Michael's, 0-1, free), for McManus; K. Gallagher (Eastern Harps), for O'Connor; K. Finan (Coolaney), for Frizzell; J. Rogers (Bunanadden), for McTiernan; P. Greene (St John's), for Rogers. Ref., P. Daly (Roscommon). Herald Sport Man of the Match: Martin Coady (Galway).[/private]