Sligo defeated Galway in the Dalata Hotels Group Connacht U20 Football Championship. Photo by Sligo GAA
Dalata Hotel Group Connacht U20 Football Championship
Sligo 2-9 Galway 2-8
Mayo 5-16 Leitrim 0-8
Dillon Walsh hit a late winner for Sligo in Markievicz Park this evening to hand 2022 All-Ireland minor champions Galway their second defeat in this year’s Dalata Hotels Connacht U-20 championship, while Mayo are now in the driving seat to top the group and go straight into a provincial final after they made it three wins from three at Leitrim’s expense in Hastings Insurance MacHale Park.
Sligo can still top the group if they finish out with wins over Leitrim and Mayo, and they will go into those contests with immense confidence after they came through an enthralling contest with the Tribesmen this evening.
A two-point free from Ronan Niland in the first minute set the tone and he went on to trade goals with Ryan O’Donnell in the space of 60 seconds. Galway captain Colm Costello’s black card handed the initiative to the hosts who led at the break courtesy of points from Walsh and Eamon O’Mahony, but from then on the contest swung over and back.
Galway drew level, Sligo hit two in a row to take the lead, Seán O’Connor found the net for Galway, Dara Mostyn hit back for Sligo courtesy of David Lyons’ good pass, and points from Cian Rafferty and Ross Coen left it all square going into the last ten minutes.
With tension levels rising, there were missed chances at both ends before it fell to Walsh, the goalscoring hero from the two sides’ Connacht final clash of 2023, to snatch the winner.
In Castlebar, Mayo took full advantage of the dry ground and warm weather to run up a score on Leitrim and consolidate their position as the form team in the province.
By the midway point in the first half it was 1-6 to 0-0 with Oisín Cronin finding the net while Niall Hurley had 0-5, two from two-point range, and already Leitrim were in huge trouble.
Jack Kelly, one of the brightest young prospects in the county, hit three first half points but once Colm McHale came forward from wing back to score a second goal, the lead was out to double figures and there was no way back for the underdogs.
Darragh Beirne came off the bench to hit 2-2 in a 25-minute spell on the pitch, Tom Lydon continued his excellent form in this championship with 1-2, and Leitrim’s only bright spark was a two-pointer from Ben Guckian.
They now need to pick up maximum points from their last two games against local rivals Sligo and Roscommon to have any chance sneaking into the top three, while on paper it looks like next weekend’s battle between Galway and Roscommon in Tuam Stadium will be something close to a straight knockout battle between those two sides.
