Galway U21s make short work of Sligo in mis-match

Date Published: 21-Mar-2011

Galway 2-20

Sligo 0-7

Cian O’Connell

IN these deeply distressing times, crumbs of comfort for Galway football were located at Markievicz Park on Saturday afternoon as a promising under 21 outfit cruised to a Connacht semi-final success that was every bit as comfortable as the scoreline suggests.

While Sligo were utterly disappointing in the opening period, Galway performed in a clinical manner confirming that team manager Alan Mulholland has constructed a capable panel. Leading by a whopping 1-14 to 0-1 at the interval, the second half was always going to turn into a damage limitation exercise for Sligo.

That didn’t bother Galway in the slightest, though, because they went to the north west aware that a win and a dollop of good news was required. From the first whistle, it was apparent that Mulholland had Galway primed and ready for a battle.

Mulholland offered a measured post match verdict stressing that this bunch of Galway players mustn’t be burdened with too much responsibility. "It was something we tried to avoid: putting extra pressure on ourselves. We have to win this for the under 21s, we don’t have to do it to save Galway football or anything. We have to do it for ourselves. We could do with a boost, I agree with that, and we hope that there is a bit of talent coming through.”

The scores flowed with remarkable frequency initially as Galway commenced with admirable desire rifling over a half dozen points inside nine minutes. At centrefield Thomas Flynn and Fiontán O’Curraoin were as dynamic as they were dominant, and Sligo were ailing.

Galway’s forwards were buzzing too, Michael Boyle, after an impressive campaign with Killererin, was showcasing his direct, hard running style, while centre forward Mark Hehir was sharp from both play and frees. Boyle struck three, Hehir two, and Danny Cummins also pointed during Galway’s purposeful start.

Sligo’s only score of the first half arrived in the 12th minute when Padraig Clarke kicked a point on a rare foray into Galway territory, but it was only a brief interruption. The Galway defence, anchored superbly by Colin Forde and Johnny Duane, weren’t threatened in the remainder of the opening half which still had nearly 20 minutes left to run.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Sentinel.