Carew says team dug deep in second half

SLIGO stormed to a two- point victory over Laois in Markievicz Park on Sunday as they move to third place in the Allianz Division 3 table with promotion still very much on the cards. Those watching the first half may not have been hopeful for a home side win as Laois were dominating all over the field.

Sligo’s defence was under enormous pressure throughout the opening 35 minutes as Laois were using their physical advantage in the air to leave Sligo struggling to keep up. The ball was in the back of Aidan Devaney’s net twice, on 18 and 26 minutes, as it looked ominous for the hosts who were trailing by six points as the interval approached. Then the turning point of the game arrived on 33 minutes when Laois midfielder Kevin Meaney was shown a straight red for striking Niall Murphy close to the square. Murphy received attention while the home support could tell it was game on for the second half.

The opening ten minutes was a lacklustre affair, it took ten minutes for either side to register a score before Paddy O’Connor got Sligo’s first point after being fed by Adrian Marren. Earlier Sligo’s Kyle Cawley was bounding down on the Laois goal, his effort struck the post as the heavens opened for a short while.

Laois’s physicality was telling and on 13 minutes they struck with the game’s first goal.

Alan Farrell sent a long ball into corner forward Paul Kingston who caught effortlessly tricked his marker, tapping the rebound into the back of the Sligo net. The hosts were struggling to control Laois’s high balls as much of the play was in Sligo’s half. Kingston’s brother Donal scored two points, one from a free, which was responded with a brace from Murphy, including a fantastic score from 45 metres out to leave two between them on 20 minutes.

Sligo’s defence was under serious pressure from a lively Laois attack . Corner back Darren Strong saw his goal chance come off Devaney’s fingertips as Sligo breathed a sigh of relief. The visitors were being allowed to shoot at ease, half back Stephen Attride edged them three in front on 25 minutes, Meaney who was covering a lot of ground, sent another dangerous ball into the Laois forward line, again the Sligo defence floundered, giving possession away and Donal Kingston scored Laois’s second goal on 26 minutes, as they leapt six in front.

Alarm bells were beginning to toll for the hosts, with David Conway pointing a fine score from play putting seven between them as Sligo had only four points to Laois’s 2- 4.

Then, the game changer arrived on the 33 minute mark. Marren linked up with Murphy who had a definite goal chance before being fouled on the edge of the box. Referee Barry Tiernan had a close view of Meaney striking out at Murphy and after a brief discussion with his umpires, issued Meaney with a straight red. Coen pointed the resulting free and Murphy stormed up the field shortly after, scoring one of the points of the game, much to the delight of the Sligo support. Already the hosts seemed to have more kick to their stride.

A Padraig McMahon strike curled off the post and over the bar as Laois went six in front again, before Coen pointed a free in injury time as five separated them at the break, Laois leading by 2- 6 to seven points. Sligo were looking more promising and fans could taste a comeback was possibly on the cards.

It looked a completely different Sligo side in the second half, Stephen Gilmartin, who came on at half time, found O’Connor free and he fed Johnny Kelly who pointed from play. Neil Ewing and Coen linked up on 39 minutes, Coen scoring his third as the gap was down to three.

Donal Kingston responded with a pointed free on 41 minutes before Sligo scored three unanswered points, making it a one point game with 46 minutes played. Marren and Murphy both had two goal chances slice wide before Marren hit over two fine points with the tireless Keelan Cawley adding another impressive score as the deficit was down to one. The Kingston brothers were heading toward the Sligo goal before Sligo’s Adrian McIntyre with an immense block put an end to their advance.

Conway added his second of the afternoon before John O’Loughlin got another as Laois went back three in front with 55 minutes on the clock.

Pat Hughes was brought on as a substitute for Sligo as the hosts needed the height advantage up front. A Coen free was followed by another fine score from Keelan Cawley as again the gap dropped to one point with nine minutes to go. The tension was building as Sligo had their eyes set on scoring. The influential Cian Breheny levelled the game to much cheers from the crowd with five minutes to go as it was all to play for in the final moments. Sligo got their hands on the resulting kick out and it fell into the arms of Murphy who slotted over, putting the hosts into the lead with four minutes to go. The momentum was very much with the Yeats County at this stage as the added man was telling. A close- range Laois free was converted by Donal Kingston putting the sides level once again with three minutes to go.

Devaney left his goals to take a long- range free for Sligo, it dropped short however and he had to rush back as Laois counter- attacked before Kevin McDonnell, who impressed throughout, won possession back for Sligo.

It seemed like the game was more than likely heading for a draw before Gilmartin was found lurking free after Marren and O’Connor linked up and the Tubbercurry man sent the ball over the bar with a minute to go, the Sligo crowd delirious. The game wasn’t over just yet though, three minutes of injury time had to be played as Laois pounced up the pitch again looking for the equaliser. Again the immense McDonnell put a stop to their attack with a massive catch high in the air. Another Laois free taken by Donal Kingston dropped short, Sligo held their breaths before captain Neil Ewing had the last say, pointing at the death, punching the air as Sligo knew victory was theirs.

SLIGO: A Devaney, C Harrison, K McDonnell, N Gaughan, E McHugh, N Ewing ( C) ( 0- 1), K Cawley ( 0- 2), P O’Connor ( 0- 1), A McIntyre, C Davey, S Coen ( 0- 4, 3f), J Kelly ( 0- 1), K Cawley, A Marren ( 0- 3, 1f), N Murphy ( 0- 4). Subs used: S Gilmartin ( 0- 1) for Davey ( h/ t), B Egan for Harrison ( 54), C Breheny ( 0- 1) for K Cawley ( 55), P Hughes for Coen ( 57).

LAOIS: G Brody, D Strong, D Booth, J Kelly, S Attride ( C) ( 0- 1), C Begley, A Farrell, D Luttrell, K Meaney, D O’Reily, D Conway ( 0- 2), N Donoher, J O’Loughlin ( 0- 1), D Kingston ( 1- 4, 2f), P Kingston ( 1- 1). Subs used: P McMahon ( 0- 1), B Quigley for Luttrell ( 45), G Dillon for O’Reilly ( 45), R Munnelly for Conway ( 52).

Referee: B Tiernan ( Dublin). SLIGO boss Niall Carew said after their two- point win over Laois that he was ‘ relieved’.

“I’m happy with the win and more relieved than anything else,” he added.

Following the side’s defeat to Antrim in Belfast the week prior to Sunday’s game, he said heads were low going into the Laois encounter.

“I was impressed a lot with how we played in the second half. Look, I suppose we were dealing with the hangover from the Antrim game going into it.

“There was a bit of lost confidence there having missed so much in that match

“So those type of things were playing on your mind.

“That did show too in the first half with Laois.

“We also had to deal with losing Ross Donovan at full back too.

“It was good to get Charlie Harrison back for his first start.

“We did get things wrong in the first half, we were struggling to keep Donal Kingston at bay although in fairness to Kevin McDonnell and Noel Gaughan they did play well.”

This was a factor in both goals too, he added.

“For both of the goals, they came from two long balls into the forward line,

“In fairness to Aidan Devaney he pulled off a great save too,” Niall added.

He said the half- time talk wasn’t stern as such but more pointed direction.

“Ah it wasn’t stern, it was more giving the lads direction.

“Seeing what we could do to hurt them and where we could step up our game.

“We needed to improve our workrate as well, you can talk about it at half- time, but it was up to the lads to go out and do it on the pitch and they did,” Niall explained.

He didn’t fully agree that the sending off of Laois’s Kevin Meaney was the turning point entirely.

“Look, it was and it wasn’t. The way sendings off go, sometimes they can work to your favour while other times you can play worse with 15 men.

“For us on Sunday it worked to our advantage and it worked out for us.

“The lads should be commended for the way they went out in the second half and took the game by the scruff of the neck,” he added.

The manager agreed that games like these provide his side with things to learn.

“You learn from every game, the biggest thing is to try and improve and keep the head down.

“We have Longford now in two weeks time, so we will be back training tonight ( Tuesday).

“It doesn’t really make a difference as such that there is a break.

“I’ll be looking at their game against Tipperary and seeing how that goes.

“They have won one game already and they’re doing okay.

“It they beat Tipp then they’ll be only one point behind us. The table is tight and it’s very tight,” Niall added. “I must say the fans last Sunday were a great help too.”