Roscommon 0-06
Galway 0-06
With just one round of games to go in the Eirgrid Connacht Under-20 football championship, Galway have secured their place in the knockout stages – either directly into a final, or into one of the two semi-final slots – while all four other counties are still in the hunt, following tonight's two draws at Markievicz Park and Dr Hyde Park.
Roscommon were arguably the happier side at the final whistle in Dr Hyde Park after they salvaged their third draw in succession, though Galway can at least be sure of a knockout game, with Roscommon facing into a winner-take-all contest against Leitrim next week.
While the action in Sligo was free-scoring, where the home side hit 2-11 to Leitrim's 1-14, it was a very different contest at the Hyde, where both teams operated with defensive cover on a dismal and grey night.
Though the playing surface held up well, greasy conditions and high levels of defensive effort led to a huge amount of turnovers, not to mention 12 wides, seven for the visiting side.
Galway did look that bit more potent from open play up front however, and they will be disappointed not to have built on their half-time position, where they led by a single point after playing into the tricky diagonal breeze.
They were never headed in the second half, and each of the three frees that Shane McGinley kicked in the second half were a little bit short of clear-cut calls for referee Barry Judge, but on the other side of the coin, the same player had the game’s best goal chance and it took a top drawer save from goalkeeper Eamon McGrath to keep his net untouched.
Roscommon’s best phase in the game was the opening 20 minutes, when they struggled to put scores on the board but controlled possession, exerting huge pressure on McGrath’s kickouts and foraging well in the battle for breaking ball.
Rory Hester and Rob Heneghan kicked good scores for the home side but they also accumulated four of their five wides in this period, and struggled to connect with their lively inside line, particularly McGinley and Bobby Nugent.
It took a moment of real class from Colm Costello to break Galway’s duck after 22 minutes, the Dunmore player splitting the posts from the left-hand sideline with a majestic arcing kick, and by the interval he had added a second score of similar quality, either side of a Matthew Thompson free.
A mark from Conor Heneghan five minutes into the second half doubled the advantage, and in the context of this game, 0-04 to 0-02 felt like a big lead, but like Roscommon, Galway struggled with the diagonal breeze and failed to kick on, despite Shay McGlinchey and Heneghan performing well in the battle for primary possession in the middle.
McGinley kicked two dead ball scores either side of his low ground shot that drew a fantastic reflex save from McGrath, while Cian Murphy also fired a score for the Galway men in between.
That left Roscommon chasing an equaliser, which they eventually engineered through Niall O’Donnell, assisted by good play from Heneghan and McGinley.
For their part, Galway calmly controlled the restart, worked the ball down the pitch and fed Murphy, whose kick from the right wing swung delightfully inside the near post.
That left the Rossies with 60 seconds, and after Conor Ryan claimed the kickout, the ball was worked into McGinley, 30 metres out from goal. With two tacklers converging on him, he dropped the ball and attempted to dribble it towards goal before bending to pick it again, drawing the hit that yielded his third dead ball score of the game.
Given the way this championship has progressed so far, anything other than a draw wouldn’t have felt right.
Roscommon: Seán Allen; Eoghan Carthy, Conor Harley, Eden Kerins; Daniel Hagney, Dan Casey, James McGreal; Senan Lambe, Shane Walsh; Rob Heneghan (0-01), Conor Ryan, Rory Hester (0-01); Shane McGinley (0-03, 3f), Adam McGreal, Bobby Nugent.
Subs: Ryan Dowling for A McGreal (half-time), Ryan Conlon for Hester (35), Ethan O'Reilly for J McGreal (39), Oisín O’Flaherty for Walsh (47), Niall O’Donnell (0-01) for O’Reilly (54).
Galway: Eamon McGrath; Brian Noone, Shane Canavan, Darragh Costello; Mark Mannion, Ross Coen, Jack Folan; Shay McGlinchey, Conor Heneghan (0-01); Ciaran Mulhern, Ronan Colleran, Jack Lonergan; Matthew Thompson (0-01, 1f), Colm Costello (0-02), Cian Murphy (0-02).
Subs: Jack Mullen for Colleran (46), Luc O’Connor for Folan (51), Pádraic Godwin for Lonergan (60).
Referee: Barry Judge (Sligo).
There was yet another draw in the other Connacht U20 clash in Markievicz Park, where an injury-time Luke Marren penalty levelled the game for Sligo against Leitrim on a 2-11 to 1-14 scoreline.
The home side led by the minimum at half time (1-05 to 0-07), thanks to a Connor Flynn goal midway through the half but Leitrim, following their impressive victory over Mayo last week, took control in the third quarter.
A brace of points apiece from Barry McNulty and Jack Casey nudged them ahead and when Darren Cox found the net on 47 minutes, Andy Moran's side led by six.
Their advantage was still five as the clock hit 60 minutes but injury-time points from Marren and Connor Sheridan made it a one-score game before the former lashed a penalty to the net.
Three of the five teams progress to the knockout phase, one directly into the final, the next two into a semi. Galway, with their four group games already played, are through on five points. Mayo, Leitrim and Roscommon all sit on three points (the latter having drawn all three matches), while Sligo are on two.
In Ulster, Tyrone's unbeaten run in Group A continued as they hammered Monaghan 5-20 to 0-08 to ensure top spot in the group and a semi-final berth.
The visitors led twice early on in Coalisland – Nicky Sherlock and Dara McKenna pointing - but Tyrone soon took control with goals from Odhran Brolly, Cormac Devlin and Eoin McElhom helping them into a 3-08 to 0-03 lead.
With the breeze now with them, the Red Hands continued to add to their tally with the lively Ruairi McCullagh and Michael Rafferty raising further green flags.
Despite the loss Monaghan will still progress to the quarter-finals.
Derry are also through to the last six after an equally impressive 5-16 to 0-03 win over Antrim at Owenbeg.
It took the Saffrons 46 minutes to open their account - Gaireach MacAdhaim of St Gall's their scorer – and Derry already had 4-12 posted by that stage.
Those goals all came in the first half with Ryan McNicholl (2), Niall O’Donnell and Ruairi Forbes raising green flags with Odhran Murphy slotting home a penalty in the final seconds.
There’s some knock-out details to be sorted yet in Group B as Donegal’s game with Armagh in Ballybofey was called off late on due to the weather.
Cavan will be in the quarter-finals though after leaving Brewster Park with a narrow one-point win, 2-09 to 1-11, over Fermanagh.
Matthew Smith gave them the perfect start with the opening score after two minutes, and that helped them to a 1-06 to 0-05 interval lead.
Sean Conlon cut the gap on the restart with a point, and after Cavan regained control, Michael Burns fired home Fermanagh’s goal to leave them one behind.
Cavan’s response was instant with the impressive Darragh Lovett restoring their four-point lead, but they still faced a nervy finish as Fermanagh hit the last three points to come up just short.
In Munster, Kerry reeled off nine unanswered second-half scores to beat Clare by 11 points in Quilty.
Declan O'Sullivan's side began brightly with Charlie Keating finding the net to put them 1-01 to 0-00 ahead after six minutes but after Cormac Dillon's point four minutes later, the visitors failed to score for the rest of the half.
Clare enjoyed a strong second quarter, entering level at the break (0-05 to 1-02), points from Conor Fennell, Tom Curran and Daire Culligan rounding off a decent first-half effort.
However, Kerry emerged recharged and sauntered away after half-time, scoring nine without reply, Dillon to the fore, with Rob Stack and Eddie Healy also scoring a brace of points from play. The Kingdom ran out 1-13 to 0-05 winners in the finish.
Cork had seven points to spare away to Tipperary in Fethard Town, running out 0-14 to 0-07 winners.
Rory O'Shaughnessy was a leading light, racking up 0-03 play, while Hugh O'Connor top scored with 0-05, four of which came from play.
The two Munster heavyweights collide next Wednesday evening in Phase 2 Round 2 of the Munster championship in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
