Galway left stunned by late Sligo power surge

Date Published: {J}

Sligo 1-14

Galway 0-16

FRANK FARRAGHER

A FAR higher reading on the entertainment barometer than the drawn match and a notable improvement in the Galway performance, but yet in the second half when the intensity of this Connacht semi-final hit the white heat of the championship, it was a highly motivated Sligo side that tapped in far easier to those critical reserves of commitment and passion.

It was stirring stuff and the tighter confines of Markievicz Park on Saturday ensured that the 12,000 crowd gave a real championship atmosphere to a tie always high on emotion and sweat, if at times a little short on forward guile.

Sligo should have won in Pearse Stadium and the psychological blow of not putting that game away could have left a legacy of self doubt, but Kevin Walsh’side dusted themselves down and fired ample measures of grit and hard work into this encounter.

Galway, possibly with some justification, pointed to their lack of competitive action as the main reason for their ‘power failure’ in Pearse Stadium and they were far sharper in the first half of this encounter, as they clearly showed when powering into an 8-4 lead on the half hour mark.

Even when Galway conceded what can only be described as a calamitous goal two minutes into the second half, as a result of an attempted sideline backpass, they still powered their way back into a 0-12 to 1-6 lead, and looked to be well on their way to seeing off the Sligo challenge.

During the middle chunk of that second half, the game was to change inexorably the way of Sligo. They began to drive forward out of defence and at midfield all the big ball wins went their way, inspired by some spectacular fielding from Eugene Mullan.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Sentinel.