Sligo’s style is too much for Leitrim in one-sided duel
Connacht GAA SFC Quarter-Final Leitrim Sligo Men in black excel against depleted hosts as Canice Mulligan stars and 0-6 0-15 team captain Niall Murphy bags 0-5
SLIGO fans leaving Avant Money Páirc Seán Mac Diarmada on Sunday last, although satisfied at seeing their team win well, were utterly confused.
Instead of the traditional Carrickon-Shannon cauldron, where Leitrim are often capable of great feats of giant-killing, Sligo were able to ramble to a deserved nine-point win, 0-15 to 0-6.
Superior Sligo purred but Leitrim – who only managed one firsthalf point – were putrid.
Tony McEntee’s men were sufficiently impressive to lead by eight points at half-time, 0-9 to 0-1, having been backed by the stiff wind, and were able to absorb the not insignificant flaw of 11 first-half wides.
A Leitrim comeback with the wind never materialised so Sligo’s mettle wasn’t tested as they oozed efficiency during a controlled second-half that was absurdly drab because of the gulf between the sides.
Still, cynical observers noted that the shoe will be on the other foot in two weeks’ time when Sligo, as underdogs, will take on champions Galway in the provincial semi-final.
This will be a better assessment of where the men in black stand against one of the country’s GAA aristocrats.
Brave Leitrim’s plight merited a degree of sympathy. A combination of two up and coming stars being unavailable – Barry McNulty and Jack Foley played for the county’s U-20 team the previous Wednesday and so, according to a rule that will cease next year, were ruled out – as well as late injuries meant that manager
Andy Moran only had a matchday squad of 22.
Still, given that this was a meeting of this year’s
Allianz Football League
Division Four finalists
(Leitrim) and last year’s
Division Four champions
(Sligo), it was anticipated that this would be a bouncy castle of a contest, not a straightforward assignment for the visitors.
The winners, without Luke Towey and Pat Spillane, gave Connacht GAA Senior Football Championships debuts to four players – starters Eoghan Smith, Alan McLoughlin and Canice Mulligan as well as second-half substitute Lee Deignan – and it was Mulligan who starred.
Mulligan, last year’s Sligo U-20 captain, already twice a Connacht winner in that grade, never looked out of place and instantly became a central figure in a drama that became predictable once Darragh Cummins’ 16th minute point cancelled out Leitrim’s opening score.
Along with Canice Mulligan, team captain Niall Murphy, who scored 0-5, Nathan Mullen, who began the task of minimising Ryan O’Rourke’s impact, Darragh Cummins, Evan Lyons, Brian Cox, Paul Kilcoyne and Eddie McGuinness were excellent.
It was poignant that the home side’s only score of the firsthalf – a point from Pearce Dolan – was almost a goal that could have made this contest a bit more intriguing.
Leitrim, who won the toss but opted to play into the wind in the opening 35 minutes, put together a smooth attack and Pearce Dolan went for goal with a low effort. Sligo netminder Aidan Devaney managed to turn the shot over, however, and Leitrim had to be content with 0-1 rather than 1-0. They held this advantage for seven minutes as Sligo’s wastefulness began to show – the visitors kicked five wides before Darragh Cummins landed what would be the first of nine points without reply.
It was occasionally messy by Sligo as they were dominating possession – from their own kickouts