Salthill Knocknacarra goals do the trick

Salthill Knocknacarra 3-10

Mlicheal Breathnach 0-13

SALTHILL – Knocknacarra kept their senior championship hopes alive as crucial goals swept Micheal Breathnachs aside in a soaking wet Moycullen on Sunday evening.

A goal late in the first half from Brian Conlon proved the turning point and further green flags from Seamie Crowe and Barry Kelly after the restart cemented the city side’s place in the last eight.

It was Kevin Walsh’s side who started brightest as Peadar O Cionnaith tapped over an early free and they almost engineered an early goal when Peadar Og O Griofa fed O Cionnaith, but his shot was blocked by the Salthill-Knocknacarra defence.

Former Connacht rugby star Gavin Duffy was named to start in midfield for Salthill until he was summoned to Croke Park for standby duty with Mayo, with Paddy Kitt filling the Mayo man’s boot.

Stalwart Crowe sent over a beauty to get his men up and running before Donal O Curraoin reinstated the Breathnach’s lead much to the delight of their large support packed into the stand.

As favourite for the Galway managrial hotseat Kevin Walsh paced the sideline, Crowe and an impressive double from Gary Cox saw Salthill-Knocknacarra lead for the first time in the contest.

But Breathnachs were undaunted – with Fiach O Bearra splitting the posts with a sublime kick and Donal O Curraoin quickly levelling the game at 0-4 each.

The slippery conditions were playing havoc as the rain teemed down, and Gearoid Armstrong almost forced a goal thanks to the conditions when his high effort dropped short and Ronan O Beolain almost let it slip into the net.

A Sean Armstrong 45 gave Salthill the edge but again Breathnachs hit back with O Cionnaith pointing as the half was drawing to a close, before Salthill struck their first goal at an opportune moment.

A swift attack on the stroke of half time culminated in Sean Armstrong spotting a gap in the Breathnach’s defence to feed Brian Conlon and he fired into the roof of the net to give Salthill a 1-5 to 0-5 lead at the interval.

After the restart the rain never gave up and neither did Breathnachs, with O Cionnaith dispatching a free early on before placed balls from Crowe and Sean Armstrong gave the 2012 county champions a four-point cushion.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Sentinel.