Kelly's goals prove decisive for Galway U-21s in extra time

Sligo       2-14

(after extra-time)

IF ever there was a fitting finale to the last ever Connacht U-21 football championship, this thrilling provincial decider at picturesque Markievicz Park on Saturday evening was it. In the end, Galway seized their opportunity and in doing so brought down the curtain on a competition they had also won in its inaugural year in 1964.

This game had more twists and turns than the River Liffey but, ultimately, the destination of the title was decided by Galway’s unanswered 2-4 in extra-time. Although Sligo had taken the lead early on in this period, two palmed goals from substitute Sean Kelly finally drew a line through a truly remarkable final.

A slow burner for much of the first half of normal time, once Sligo struck for the game’s first goal on 25 minutes through Alan McLoughlin – to catapult the wind-assisted home side into a 1-6 to 0-2 lead – this provincial decider took on a life of its own.

By this stage, an impressive Sligo had already ramped up through the gears and were cutting the Galway rearguard to shreds with some fine fielding, superb running on and off the ball, decisive deliveries and deadly accuracy in front of the posts.

Indeed, with 26 minutes gone, and leading by eight points, 1-7 to 0-2, it appeared as if the Yeats County were about to lift the JJ Fahey Cup for the first time ever – having finished runner-up on eight previous occasions between 1979 and 2012.

For their part, Galway were floundering, struggling to secure possession under the kick-out and when they did secure the ball they invariably coughed it up quite cheaply against a well-drilled and organised Sligo defence that was ably assisted by the roving Kyle Cawley.

Skip on three minutes into the second half and the sides were level at 1-7 apiece. And with just nine minutes of normal time remaining, they had raced into a 1-14 to 1-10 lead. With two minutes to go, Gerry Fahy’s charges had lost that advantage, trailing Sligo by one. Frantic was not the word!

Taking a breath, on the stroke of full-time Galway wrestled the lead back again before Sligo kicked the equaliser through a Liam Gaughan free in the sixth minute of injury-time to force extra-time. It was pulsating stuff with heroes aplenty on both sides.

No more so than Galway wing-back and man of the match Cillian McDaid who drove on his side with such fight and fury that it really was inspirational. Three points coming from deep, he had a hand in multiple other scores and his ‘give and go’ technique, fuelled by blistering pace, caused a ripple of excitement every time he touched the ball.

Of course, there are not too many games that Mountbellew/Moylough’s Michael Daly doesn’t also have an influence on and he, too, was a contender for the man of the match gong. He kicked 1-3 – 1-2 from play – and his point to level the tie for just the second time on 41 minutes could only be described as majestic.

Full coverage in this week's Connacht Tribune.