SLIGO GO CLOSE IN BELFAST TONY MCENTEE’S SIDE LOSE BY A POINT TO ANTRIM:
Sligo convert three penalties but suffer once talisman Niall Murphy is red-carded in the second-half of thriller that is decided by Antrim veteran Paddy Cunningham
AFL Division Four North Round Two
Antrim 3-13
Sligo 3-12
SLIGO should have won against Antrim, could have drawn, but cruelly lost in a bizarre but wonderfully entertaining encounter at Belfast’s Corrigan Park last Sunday afternoon.
This agonising one-point defeat, 3-13 to 3-12, means that Sligo must win in Louth this Sunday in order to keep their promotion bid lit.
Having been reduced to 14 players following lethal attacker Niall Murphy’s second booking and then having fallen three points down, 3-12 to 2-12, after Antrim substitute Eunan Walsh seemed to fumble the ball into the net, Sligo looked beaten.
But a third successful penalty for Tony McEntee’s men – this one smoothly converted by Nathan Rooney, whose spot-kick finish was as cool as the two adept penalty conversions from Niall Murphy – amazingly brought Sligo level, 3-12 each, in time added on.
Goalscorer Rooney was just off target from a sideline ball – it would have been some point had he scored it – and then Antrim substitute Paddy Cunningham, a magical finisher, broke Sligo hearts with a superb leftfooted finish.
Antrim, who gained revenge for last year’s one-point reversal at the hands of Sligo in Markievicz Park, are destined for the Division Four semi-finals after beating Louth and Sligo, both by one-point margins.
Sligo, who conceded two goals in the first 12 minutes, were just a point up, 2-12 to 2-11, when Niall Murphy was shown a second yellow card.
The home side levelled through Ryan Murray, who pointed when a goal looked on, and then an incredible period of additional time delivered unbelievable drama.
Sligo will wonder how they ended up scrambling for at least a draw. Not as dominant as they eventually were against Leitrim, which is understandable because Antrim are a better team than Sligo’s Connacht neighbours, Sligo were still four points ahead, 2-12 to 2-8, by the 50th minute.
Darragh Cummins worked hard to land Sligo’s 12th point and just before than Niall Murphy bagged his second goal from the spot, this time with a low finish (having blasted the ball to the top corner from his first-half penalty). Sligo’s second penalty came from an infringement on Patrick O’Connor, who was given possession by David Quinn.
Prior to nudging themselves in front, Sligo had been matched score for score since the restart as rain lashed the venue.
Cian Lally kicked a fine point but he was not as effective as he had been a week previously – being underwhelming was an affliction that affected several of his teammates, too. Before Lally’s score there was a fifth pointed free from Sean Carrabine.
While this game evolved into a tight, tit for tat contest, it was nothing of the sort for much of the first-half.
The opening exchanges were full pelt but a mixture of turnovers and mistakes.
Seán Carrabine’s first pointed free in the ninth minute was Sligo’s opening score – at that stage they had leaked 1-1, Antrim’s opening goal coming from Odhran Eastwood’s rebound conversion after Kevin Small’s goalbound shot was blocked.
Sligo were stunned for a second time when wing-back Marc Jordan ghosted inside before planting a shot beyond Eamonn Kilgannon.
A mixture of pointed frees by Niall Murphy and Seán Carrabine (with the latter also pointing from play after Darragh Cummins started the move when gathering an Antrim kickout) kept Sligo in contention, with Antrim popping the ball about nicely and comfortable with a three-point advantage, 2-3 to 0-6.
Sligo erased Antrim’s lead, however, when Niall Murphy was awarded a penalty. Patrick O’Connor’s point attempt that dropped short in Antrim’s goalmouth sparked a scramble and a subsequent foul on Murphy, who was then flawless from the spot. Antrim steadied their ship by going back in front, 2-5 to 1-6, but a brace of scores from Niall Murphy, including a point from play that was created by Nathan Rooney, levelled matters once more.
In between good pieces of defending from Evan Lyons and Keelan Cawley there was a fifth Antrim point – Odhran Eastwood on target with a neat score.
Antrim finished the first-half with Ryan Murray being sent to the sin bin. They also saw their one-point lead
cancelled out by Nathan Rooney, who pointed from a mark.
Level at the break, 1-9 to 2-6, who could have anticipated what was to follow.
Best for Sligo: Niall Murphy
Antrim: Michael Byrne, Ricky Johnston, Declan Lynch, Peter Healy, Marc Jordan (10), James Laverty, Dermot McAleese, Conor Stewart, Niall McKeever, Ryan Murray (0-2, 2f), Adam Loughran, Ruairi McCann (0-1, 1f), Odhran Eastwood (1-3, 1f), Kevin Small, Conor Murray (0-4, 2f)
Subs used: Patrick McBride (0-1), Eunan Walsh (1-1), Tomas McCann, Eoghan McCabe, Paddy Cunningham (0-1)
Sligo: Eamonn Kilgannon, Ryan Feehily, Eddie McGuinness, Evan Lyons, Keelan Cawley, Paul McNamara, Darragh Cummins (0-1), Paul Kilcoyne, Patrick O’Connor,
David Quinn, Cian Lally (0-1), Conor Griffin, Seán Carrabine (0-5, 4f), Niall Murphy (2-4, 2-0 pen, 3f), Red Óg Murphy.
Subs used: Nathan Rooney (1-1, 1-0 pen, 1 mark), Mikey Gordon, Nathan Mullen, Conor McGovern, Donal Conlon, Gavin Gorman, Peter Naughton
Subs not used: Alan Davey (gk), Oisin Kennedy, Karl McKenna, Barry Gorman Referee: Conor Dourneen (Cavan)