Superb second-half showing paves the way for deserved triumph over Galway
Galway midfielder Oisín Ó Neachtain and his Roscommon counterpart, Seamie Carthy, challenge for possession during Friday evening's provincial minor football championship contest at King and Moffatt Dr. Hyde Park. Picture: Gerard O'Loughlin
A superb second-half performance that exuded control and composure paved the way for an excellent victory for the Roscommon minor footballers against Galway at King and Moffatt Dr. Hyde Park on Friday evening.
The scoreline, which didn’t flatter the home side, confirmed a second win in seven days for Shane Moran’s team who belied their young years with a performance laden with maturity that Galway couldn’t contain.
A six-point half-time lead for Roscommon — while well-deserved — hardly seemed enough. But the Primrose and Blue made light of the strong wind against them in the second half to completely control the game’s tempo.
Indeed, they had stretched their buffer to nine points with only two minutes remaining.
Galway mounted a late comeback with a goal from Mikey Mitchell and a two-pointer from midfielder Oisín Ó Neachtain, but they had left themselves with too much to do.
The home side would have been happy with the respective shifts put in by their defence and midfield but, once again, they appeared to lack a clinical edge up front.
In the conditions, too many shots at goal went astray, although Galway also missed a few opportunities against the elements.
Impressive Galway wing-back Ryan Connolly opened and closed the first-half scoring. In between, Roscommon managed to keep the scoreboard ticking over, but it looked like they needed to do more.
After a few wild efforts early on, Seamie Carthy settled his side with a two-pointer.
Enda Browne and Bobby Lenehan showed neat footwork after raids forward to pad out the scoreline, while Joshua Coyne tagged on a 30-metre free to leave his side 0-5 to 0-1 ahead at the end of the opening quarter.
Ronan Carr was denied by a last-ditch block, while, at the other end, captain Tadgh Fallon did well to snuff out a chance for Ben Devaney, who replaced Galway full-forward Aaron Hanrahan before throw-in.
Jayden Jennings was content to take his point in the 22nd minute, while a Galway goal chance was pulled back for a breach by stand-in referee John Glavey, allowing Coyne to nail a two-point free.
Even a seven-point lead looked precarious, and when Connolly ended the half as his side’s sole scorer, a 0-8 to 0-2 deficit looked very surmountable for Galway.
But the young Tribesmen never got going after the break. Jayden Jennings, Seamie Carthy, Bobby Lenehan and Cathal Nerney were key players as Roscommon often toyed with their opponents before picking their moments to strike.
The excellent Lenehan, Nerney and Coyne (free) added to Roscommon’s tally, while Nerney and Coyne (free) troubled the scoreboard in the final quarter.
All a struggling Galway could muster for their efforts were frees from Adam Healy and substitute Shane Heneghan — the latter adding some direction to the visitors’ attack when introduced.
There had to be a kick in Galway at some stage, and, sure enough, Mitchell’s goal was followed by Ó Neachtain’s orange flag.
They could have brought the margin back to just two points deep into injury time, but goalkeeper Evan Burke’s converted two-point free was ruled out for a breach as Galway only had three players back in the absence of their shotstopper.
That reprieve allowed Coyne to bring his tally to 0-6 for the evening from the resultant free, handing his side a huge injection of confidence ahead of next Friday evening’s visit to Mayo.
ROSCOMMON: Z. Mullally (Clann na nGael); C. Tighe (Strokestown), T. Fallon (St. Brigid’s), C. Fitzgerald (St. Dominic’s); D. Kelleher (Kilbride), J. Brooks (Pádraig Pearses), E. Browne (0-1, Pádraig Pearses); J. Lally (Kilbride), S. Carthy (0-2, one 0-2, Roscommon Gaels); R. Carr (St. Ciaran’s), J. Jennings (0-1, Tulsk Lord Edwards), B. Lenehan (0-2, Clann na nGael); C. Nerney (0-2, Roscommon Gaels), J. Concannon (St. Aidan’s), J. Coyne (0-6, one 0-2 free, four frees, St. Brigid’s). Subs used: J. O’Brien (St. Brigid’s) for Carr (48 mins), M. McTeigue (Ballinameen) for Fitzgerald (58 mins), D. Nerney (Roscommon Gaels) for Kelleher (58 mins), C. McGowan (St. Barry’s) for Brooks (58 mins), S. Duggan (St. Dominic’s) for Concannon (60 mins).
GALWAY: E. Burke; M. Higgins, E. Gannon, C. Collins; R. Connolly (0-2), C. Browne, K. Moran; O. Ó Neachtain (0-2, one 0-2), D. Kelly; É. Maher, T. Mitchell, J. Cullinane; M. Mitchell (1-0), B. Devaney, A. Healy (0-1, one free). Subs used: S. Heneghan (0-1, one free) for T. Mitchell (40 mins), J Dillon for Browne (47 mins), A. Hanrahan for Devaney (53 mins), C. Naughton for Cullinane (58 mins), O. Ó Suilleabhan for Connolly (60 mins).
Referee: J. Glavey (Mayo).
