Big shock as Galway U-21s are tumbled in semi-final

Leitrim 0-9

Galway 0-8

WELL this didn’t go to script, now did it? Galway, the reigning All-Ireland champions, were dumped out of the U21 Connacht title race after being stunned by a hungrier Leitrim outfit at Carrick-on-Shannon on Saturday.

Let’s face it, any day you lose to Leitrim is a bad day. Galway have now lost twice to Leitrim this year, including the senior’s loss in the FBD League – a worrying habit to be getting in to.

But in fairness to the minnows of Connacht football, Leitrim deserved this victory and nobody in Galway would begrudge them it.

As shocks go, this was seismic. Leitrim were overwhelming underdogs priced at a whopping 9/1 to win the game and they were quoted plus 13 points in the handicap betting with the bookies.

It seemed initially that Leitrim were not too interested in winning; that they were only on a containment mission to keep the losing margin down. They then realised Galway really weren’t up to much and grew in confidence as the game progressed. Hunger is a great sauce and Leitrim in the second-half certainly wanted it more than Galway.

Even when substitute Damien Comer bailed Galway out with a late equaliser with two minutes to go to leave it 0-8 apiece, it was Leitrim who always looked more likely to snatch a dramatic winner.

They sensed blood after half-time and went for the jugular; fittingly the best player on show, corner forward Niall Brady landed the winner seconds after Galway had drawn level.

Though they had chances, Galway couldn’t find space to engineer a point that would force extra-time as Leitrim defended as if their lives depended on it.

The sight of substitute Adrian Nolan having his attempted shot at the posts blocked down by a Leitrim defender, as he was surrounded by five or six yellow jerseys, summed up the honesty and hard-working tenacity of the home team.

The celebrations and pitch invasion afterwards reflected what Leitrim’s first win in this competition since 1998 means to the home county.

Leitrim were certainly up for it. In the local press earlier in the week, manager Shane Ward warned of their potential to cause an upset; and Leitrim were out warming up at a side pitch a good 15 minutes before Galway’s bus had even arrived at Páirc Seán Mac Diarmada. They meant business.

Galway, with the aid of a breeze, started brightest, with Cathal Mulryan, Seán Moran and Michael Day showing well early on, and carved out a 0-5 to 0-1 lead midway through the half, with Mulryan, Moran, lively wing-back Fiontán Ó Cuanaigh and Gary Kelly doing the scoring against one point from Leitrim’s Alan McLoughlin.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.