Galway are second-best in U-21 Connacht quarter-final

Galway 2-10

In many ways it’s a mystery Roscommon didn’t win by more. Maybe it was Galway stubbornness. Maybe Roscommon were too tentative; lacking a killer instinct.

They certainly left the door ajar for a Galway comeback when in truth, they should have been home and hosed long before the final whistle sounded.

Galway must be given credit for that, too. Gerry Fahy’s men never gave up. They battled and battled and battled.

That fighting spirit meant that just one kick of the ball separated these two teams in the Connacht U-21 quarter-final under floodlights at Kiltoom on Friday evening.

It made for a jittery final few moments for the winners, who should really have been out of sight long before the finish.

There was no doubting Roscommon were the better team. In almost every facet of play the home side was superior, and yet they couldn’t shake off Galway, who despite suffering setbacks, quite simply refused to lie-down.

Galway played with 14 men for a little over half of the match; they were reduced to 13 men with about 10 minutes remaining; and their full-forward line failed to register one score between them.

Added to that, Roscommon had the upper-hand at midfield and dominated the restarts. And still Galway were oh so close.

A combination of Roscommon’s inability to drive home their advantage, and Galway’s knack for netting timely, opportunistic goals meant the margin was minimal.

Galway looked to be in deep trouble at half-time, trailing by five points, 1-7 to 0-5, and facing the second half without their talisman, Michael Daly who was shown the line for a second yellow card offence.

But immediately after the re-start substitute Jospeh Donnellan, with his first act, buried to the net to give the visitors hope.

Roscommon regained composure, and were looking fairly comfortable with a seven points cushion, 1-15 to 1-8, with four minutes remaining. That’s when raiding corner-back Rory Green hit a rasping shot to the net, which set-up a grandstand finish.

Alas, the audacious smash and grab wasn’t to be. Roscommon deservedly held on and face Sligo in the semi-final this weekend. The Tribesmen are out.

Though they had some fine individual performers, Galway just failed to click as a unit. St Michael’s Eamonn Brannigan led the fight from centre-forward, but he was the only starting forward that scored from play. They were far too reliant on frees and 45s from Moycullen midfielder Peter Cooke, who is a fine striker of the ball off the ground.

Others like Enda Tierney and Oisin Canney had their moments, but too often over the hour Roscommon men had the beating of their markers.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.