Cummins hits the points trail as footballers finish strongly

Date Published: 14-Jan-2013

GALWAY 0-16

SLIGO IT 1-5

FRANK FARRAGHER AT TUAM STADIUM

IT took a bolt of adversity in the form of an early second half Sligo IT goal to jolt Galway out of their easy-going ways in this second round FBD League tie at Tuam Stadium on Sunday — transforming what had been, up until then, pure ‘January football’ — into more intense fare.

That well taken Sligo IT goal five minutes into the second half — superbly dispatched to the Galway net by Aran Islander, Peadar Seoighe — put his side into a 1-3 to 0-5 lead and sowed a doubt in the minds of the 300 home crowd that a shock result could be on the cards.

For the following 10 minutes, Sligo IT did maintain a competitive challenge but Galway finished like a train in the final quarter — outscoring their opponents by eight points to one — as they eventually ran out easy winners.

Sligo IT were probably a tad better than most people expected and during an even first half, they succeeded in securing an ample supply of midfield possession, mostly from broken play, where Galway just weren’t sharp enough to pick up the scraps.

Galway obviously want to give most panel members a run in the FBD league and this time around, as compared to the NUIG game, David Reilly, Gary O’Donnell, Micheál Boyle, Mark Hehir and Sean Armstrong all started.

Paul Conroy and Michael Meehan were missing from the front line of the attack, but after a first half when Galway had scraped into a 0-5 to 0-3 lead, not enough quality ball had been delivered to the home forwards.

Danny Cummins and Sean Armstrong did share four points between them in that half with Michael Martin adding the fifth from play, but it took a determined late interception from Anthony Griffin in the 30th minute to deny Sligo IT a clear-cut goal chance.

When powerful Sligo midfielder David Maye set up Seoighe for the only goal of the match early in the second half, Galway looked to be under some pressure, but they responded with some of their best football in the closing 20 minutes.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Sentinel.