Galway minors retain provincial title in stirring battle

The Galway minor ladies footbgall team which overcome Roscommon in the Connacht Final in Swinford on Saturday. Back row, left to right: Laura Ahearne, Amy Coen, Maeve Flanagan, Saoirse Flynn, Lara Finnegan, Molly Hynes, Emma Glynn, Karen Connolly, Aoife Coen, Leah Pettit, Shauna Flaherty, Kaitlyn Kearney, Roisin Joyce, Chelsie Crowe. Front row: Lynsey Noone, Elaine Nee, Kate Geraghty, Aoife Molloy, Chloe Miskell, Aoife Thompson, Ciara McCarthy, Katie Quigley, Lorraine Meehan, Shauna Boyle, Katelyn Hogan, Caoimhe O'Donoghue, Andrea Trill, Riona Quinn. Photo: Des Glynn.

placeholder image — The Galway minor ladies footbgall team which overcome Roscommon in the Connacht Final in Swinford on Saturday. Back row, left to right: Laura Ahearne, Amy Coen, Maeve Flanagan, Saoirse Flynn, Lara Finnegan, Molly Hynes, Emma Glynn, Karen Connolly, Aoife Coen, Leah Pettit, Shauna Flaherty, Kaitlyn Kearney, Roisin Joyce, Chelsie Crowe. Front row: Lynsey Noone, Elaine Nee, Kate Geraghty, Aoife Molloy, Chloe Miskell, Aoife Thompson, Ciara McCarthy, Katie Quigley, Lorraine Meehan, Shauna Boyle, Katelyn Hogan, Caoimhe O'Donoghue, Andrea Trill, Riona Quinn. Photo: Des Glynn.

Galway 2-17

Roscommon 4-6

THIS may look like a comfortable five-point win on paper but Galway minor ladies footballers were made fight tooth and nail to retain their provincial crown when they met a plucky Roscommon outfit in the Connacht decider in Swinford last Saturday.

Despite racing into a nine-point lead in the first half, Galway had to withstand a determined Roscommon rally in the second period, with the underdogs reducing the gap to just two points on three occasions.

What will please Galway boss Kieran Collins in this regard was that each time his charges responded by kicking a plethora of points and, really, in the end, this was the difference between the two sides.

Where Roscommon over-relied on the scoring power of brilliant corner forward Aimee O’Connor, who finished with an incredible 3-5, Galway had shooters right around the park. In all, nine from the Tribesgirls’ starting line-up got their name on the scoresheet.

And yet, a worry for the Galway camp was the manner in which they conceded goals. It would be fair to say that none of Roscommon’s four goals Karen Connolly could have done much with but the defence, on the other hand, sorely missed the presence of Kate Screene, who had lined out for the Galway minor camogie team in their All-Ireland final loss to Cork earlier in the day.

The concession of three goals in the second half will be something Collins and his management team of Annette Clarke, Johnny Lynagh and Gillian O’Connor will certainly look to address ahead of the All-Ireland series in the Summer.

As for last Saturday, when Galway were going forward, they looked hugely impressive and after 18 minutes it was no surprise they had raced into a 1-7 to 0-1 lead – the goal netted by wing-forward Amy Coen on 10 minutes after she cut inside from the left and drove her effort low beyond Rossie custodian Sasha Lavin.

Full coverage in this week's Connacht Tribune.