Liam Maloney

THE SUN was out, some spectators were in their shirtsleeves, but this was April, not June or July. The pressbox had its usual batch of sandwiches when a fridge stocked with ice cream and cold drinks would have been more fitting.

The Galway fans arrived early, picking the best seats, like avid attendees at Rome’s Colosseum, awaiting the meeting of zealous Christians and very hungry lions.

We were all set for the usual. Sligo meet Galway and then Galway beat Sligo, often by more than six points.

But this was Sligo very nearly overcoming Galway and so everyone was stunned, during and afterwards, especially with the electronic scoreboard relentless in its numerical message (Sligo 0-14, Galway 1-13) during the nightmarish lull that set in after referee Barry Tiernan’s full-time whistle.

Such was the fierceness that flowed through Sligo veins that supporters were reminded of those great drawn games against Galway at Markievizc Park during the 1990s, contests that could have gone either way.

It is 12 years since Sligo’s last defeat of Galway in the championship – a 2012 semi-final – and last Saturday’s encounter almost became just as memorable.

Last weekend’s scoreline doesn’t do justice to how ridiculously close this game was. At least twice during the game the PA announcer read out the registration of a vehicle that was blocking a driveway in a nearby housing estate. At the full-time whistle those in attendance expected another announcement, that of daylight robbery, in a Connacht GAA Football Senior Championship game that didn’t follow the script.

In this year’s Allianz

The number of times that Galway were ahead in their semi-final against Sligo last Saturday.

Football