Eirgrid Connacht U-20 football championship semi-final

ROSCOMMON 4-13 SLIGO 2-12

Kevin Egan at Dr. Hyde Park

Roscommon secured their place in next week’s Eirgrid Connacht U-20 football final against Mayo with a seven-point victory over Sligo tonight, but they needed two stoppage time goals to make sure of their win, despite showing more style and class in most sectors of the field than their Yeats County opponents.

The sensational finish to the fixture ignited a contest that was relatively one-sided for long stretches, even if Roscommon struggled to make their dominance count on the scoreboard. Liam Tully’s side played some sensational football last week against Leitrim and were similarly impressive here in the early stages against Sligo, controlling every sector of the pitch.

Sligo’s lack of a prior game seemed to tell as they struggled to work as a cohesive unit to the same degree as Roscommon, while they also had no answer for man of the match Keith Doyle in the middle of the field, who was a tremendous kickout outlet for the home side, making a series of spectacular high catches.

Yet for all this, Sligo were never too far adrift for the first 25 minutes. Roscommon had three points on the board in the first six minutes and were moving very well up along the field, but Sligo’s sheer doggedness and determination forced a way back into the tie, and as half time approached, the score was 0-6 to 0-3 in favour of Roscommon with Sligo set to have wind advantage after the interval.

Three glorious goal chances had gone astray for Roscommon, albeit one as a result of a magnificent save from Keelan Harte, while Sligo were making the most of their scraps – they dropped two chances short but didn’t hit a wide ball until just before the second half water break, with Ciarán O’Reilly driving forward to kick a stunning score that clearly roused his colleagues.

Five minutes before half time changed all that. A simple free from Daire Cregg and a punched point from Adam McDermott increased the lead, then a huge break went Roscommon’s way when a high shot from Patrick Gavin came back into play off the upright and enabled James Fitzpatrick to outjump Harte and touch the ball over the line with his fingertips.

With the wind now at their backs, Sligo kicked three of the first four scores of the second half, but it seemed like their chances of progression were on life support when yet another magnificent high catch from Doyle set his midfield colleague Ronan Garvin off on a slaloming run that ended with a sensational goal.

That made it 2-9 to 0-6 and over the next 15 minutes, the sides shared eight points equally with neither team taking control. Roscommon’s high class inside forwards were starved of the possession they needed, while Sligo relied heavily on dead ball scores but were gradually growing in confidence, in part because of the significant role that midfielder Matthew Clavin was playing in his new role on the edge of the Roscommon square.

That growth in confidence was turbo charged when Seán Carroll sent a piledriver of a shot to the Roscommon net on 54 minutes, and two Sligo points later the gap was down to four and there was a touch of panic on show in the Roscommon ranks.

That was finally eased when a breakaway Roscommon attack ended in Jason Doory bearing down on the Sligo goal, and with Ben O’Carroll on his own at the far post, the goalkeeper was forced to commit to either the shot or the pass, meaning a quick dummy from Doory left an empty net for a tap in goal.

With the next play, Robbie Dolan won possession and floated the ball in over the heads of the Sligo defenders, allowing James Fitzpatrick to scramble in his second goal, and even though there was still time for Joseph Keaney to fire in a truly world-class goal at the graveyard end of the ground, by then Roscommon had done enough to secure their passage to Castlebar this night week.

Scorers for Roscommon: James Fitzpatrick 2-2, Daire Cregg 0-4 (0-3f), Adam McDermott & Ben O’Carroll (0-2f) 0-3 each, Ronan Garvin & Jason Doory 1-0 each, Colin Walsh 0-1.

Scorers for Sligo: Lee Deignan 0-5 (0-3f, 0-1 45), Sean Carroll & Joseph Keaney 1-0 each, Oisín Flynn 0-3f, Ciarán O’Reilly, Jack Davitt, Gavin Duffy & Aaron Perry 0-1 each.

Roscommon: Conor Carroll; Conor Lohan, Colin Walsh, Dylan Gaughan; Patrick Gavin, Tomás Crean, Cian Glennon; Keith Doyle, Ronan Garvin; Robbie Dolan, Daire Cregg, Darragh Heneghan; James Fitzpatrick, Ben O’Carroll, Adam McDermott.

Subs: Rúaidhrí Fallon for Heneghan (28), Jason Doory for Cregg (48), Gavan Murray for Lohan (48), Jack Lohan for Glennon (52), Seán Trundle for Gaughan (56)

Sligo: Keelan Harte; Mark Walsh, Tristan Gilligan, Ciarán McKeon; Ciarán O’Reilly, Sean Carroll, Jack Lavin; Matthew Clavin, Feidhlim O’Donnell; Connor Finn, Lee Deignan, Joseph Keaney; Gavin Duffy, Oisín Flynn, Jack Davitt.

Subs: Aaron Perry for Lavin (22), Brian Callaghan for O’Donnell (38), Jim Davis for Duffy (45), Luke Casserly for Deignan (55)

Referee: James Molloy (Galway)