Sligo end League on a high
AT THE GAELIC GROUNDS, DROGHEDA
FIVE weeks out from their Championship bow in the Big Apple, Sligo signed off on their league campaign with a satisfactory, if unspectacular, win on Sunday.
After a disappointing first- half display, the visitors were transformed after the break, turning a four- point deficit into a three- point victory over an already- promoted Louth.
There was only a very remote possibility that Sligo would get dragged into the relegation dogfight raging in Tullamore and Belfast, so there wasn’t much at stake in Drogheda for either camp.
It was something of a victory parade for Louth, but after registering their third win of the campaign, Sligo will wonder what might have been.
It was the games against the struggling sides in the division that ultimately smothered their promotion push as Niall Carew’s men beat the two sides who won promotion - Louth and Tipp - and drew with Armagh.
Despite making 12 changes from the team that clinched promotion in Thurles, Louth were the better team in the opening half.
John Kelly opened the scoring, but Sam Mulroy got the home side off the mark in the eighth minute, effortlessly fetching a Kurt Murphy delivery and firing over. Colin Kelly’s fringe players were combining nicely and the only goal of the game was a fine team move. Mulroy picked out Anthony Williams with an exquisite pass and his delivery across the face of goal was gratefully slapped home by Ronan Holcroft.
Kelly responded with his and Sligo’s second score of the game from a free, but Darren McMahon restored Louth’s one- goal cushion, 1- 2 to 0- 2.
The returning Jim McEneaney kicked four brilliant frees in the first- half, the first of which put four between the sides.
But frees at the other end from John Kelly and Niall Murphy kept Sligo in touch.
The men in black were just about hanging in there at that stage as two more McEneaney frees made it a four- point game again and that was the gap at the interval as Eoin McHugh and James Califf traded injury- time scores.
Louth may have rung the changes beforehand, but it was Niall Carew’s turn to shake things up at the break.
Adrian Marren, Stephen Gilmartin, Mark Breheny and Kevin McDonnell were dispatched for the second- half and it definitely breathed new life into the visitors.
Marren was busy from the start, kicking his first score after just three minutes, which was swiftly followed by another from Pat Hughes. But it took them a little while to really crank up the comeback as Califf and Holcroft responded for the hosts.
Sligo were definitely getting on top, however, and another quick double from Charlie Harrison and Marren cut the gap to a goal. Mark Breheny and Califf swapped points to make it 1- 10 to 0- 10, but five points without reply swung the contest in Sligo’s favour.
In truth, it was coming and the excellent Niall Murphy led the charge three points in quick succession, two fine scores from play sandwiching a free. That drew the visitors level, but they continued to press and a Mark Breheny free edged them into the lead for the first time since the opening minutes of the game.
Adrian McIntyre should have put the issue to bed with 10 minutes remaining, but his slap at goal somehow sailed over the bar. Louth looked like they might take advantage of the let- off when McEneaney hit back at the other end to close the gap to the minimum, but that was to be Louth’s final score. Sligo passed up three glorious chances at the other end, but they eventually added a couple of insurance scores through man- of- the- match Niall Murphy.
A goal still would have rescued a share of the spoils for Louth and if he had to pick a man for a late one- on- one, Colin Kelly would have no doubt opted for Ryan Burns, but after cruising in from the left the Hunterstown man was thwarted by a fine stop from Fintan Ruddy.
SLIGO: Fintan Ruddy; Charlie Harrison 0- 1, Ross Donovan, Noel Gaughan; Eoin McHugh 0- 1, Brendan Egan, Keelan Cawley; Cian Breheny, Adrian McIntyre ( 0- 1); Neil Ewing, N Murphy 0- 6 ( 3f), John Kelly 0- 3 ( 2f); David Kelly, Pat Hughes 0- 1, Cathal Henry. Subs: Adrian Marren 0- 2 for D Kelly ( ht), Stephen Gilmartin for J Kelly ( ht), Mark Breheny 0- 2 ( 1f) for D Kelly ( ht), Kevin McDonnell for N Gaughan ( ht), Stephen Coen for P Hughes ( 60).
LOUTH: Joe Flanagan; Kurt Murphy, Patrick Reilly, Kevin Carr; Derek Crilly, Darren McMahon 0- 1, Darren Marks; Conor Martin, James Califf 0- 2f; Anthony Williams, Jim McEneaney 0- 5 ( 4f), Conall McKeever; Ruairi Moore, Sam Mulroy 0- 2, Ronan Holcroft 1- 1. Subs: John Bingham for K Murphy ( 26), Dean Maguire for K Carr ( 33), Neil Gallagher for J Flanagan ( 39), Ryan Burns for R Holcroft ( 50), Derek Maguire for D Crilly ( 62), James Stewart for D Marks ( 68).
Referee: N McKenna ( Monaghan).