Gaelic Games

Galway fight back to rescue draw against Roscommon

Tricky conditions due to the strong wind at Dr Hyde Park

Roscommon's Enda Smith competes in the air with John Maher of Galway. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho

Ian Cooney
Sun Feb 4 2024 - 16:50
Roscommon 0-9 Galway 0-9

Galway kicked the last three points at a windy Dr Hyde Park to rescue a draw and pick up their first points of the campaign.

Both sides struggled in the tricky conditions that saw a strong wind blow straight down the field towards the Graveyard end of the Hyde.

The home side lost Donie Smith to a red card in the final quarter, while Galway saw substitute Jack McCabe black carded moments after his introduction

Roscommon, who introduced St Brigid’s trio Robbie Dolan, Ruaidhrí Fallon and Ben O’Carroll into their starting line-up beforehand, had the elements in their favour during the opening but they struggled to garner any meaningful momentum, and a 0-7 to 0-4 interval lead didn’t look to be enough.

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But Galway struggled with the wind behind them in the second half too, and had made little inroads by the three-quarter stage as they still trailed by three points.

Points from Kieran Molloy, Matthew Tierney and Paul Conroy (free) brought them level with eight minutes remaining, but they couldn’t find a winner as Liam Ó Conghaile and Molloy spurned late chances.

With John Maher and the excellent Paul Conroy laying a platform at midfield, the Tribesmen opened the scoring through a Robert Finnerty free after Cathal Sweeney flashed a goal chance wide.

Conor Cox, who was introduced for the injured Ciarán Lennon inside the first 10 minutes, opened Roscommon’s account but Cillian Ó Curraoin finished off a good move with the game’s first point from play to edge his side in front once more.

Cox restored parity from a 17th-minute free before a long-range effort from Daire Cregg nudged Roscommon ahead for the first time.

Roscommon's Dylan Ruane is tackled by Kieran Molloy of Galway. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho

A beautifully-struck free off the ground from Matthew Tierney into the teeth of the breeze restored parity in the 22nd minute. Then Ruaidhrí Fallon and Ó Curraoin (free) swapped scores to leave it 0-04 apiece after 28 minutes.

The introduction of Brian Stack coincided with Roscommon finally gaining some traction with a hat-trick of points from Cox, including his first of the afternoon from play, to leave his side 0-7 to 0-4 in front at half time.

Galway never managed to get ahead in the second half as Roscommon’s resilience, epitomised by Eoin McCormack and Ben O’Carroll, nourished them.

Early frees from Finnerty and Ó Curraoin suggested that it wouldn’t take Galway long to reel in their opponents, but Roscommon’s workrate all over the pitch improved and points from O’Carroll and Diarmuid Murtagh (free) restored their three-point advantage by the three-quarter stage.

But Galway kept chipping away with points from play by Kieran Molloy and Matthew Tierney, leaving the bare minimum between them before Paul Conroy brought the teams level from a free with seven minutes remaining.

Donie Smith saw red for an altercation with Paul Conroy but Galway were soon down to 14 men when substitute Jack McCabe was shown a black card moments after his introduction.

Both sides eyed up a winner but Keith Doyle was off target for the hosts, while Liam Ó Conghaile and Kieran Molloy missed chances for Galway.

In the end, both sides had to settle for a point, with both managers presented with plenty of food for thought ahead of their remaining games.

Roscommon: C Carroll; R Dolan, D Murray, N Higgins, N Daly, R Fallon (0-1), E McCormack; E Smith, D Ruane; C Connolly, D Smith, D Cregg (0-1); D Murtagh (0-1, one free), C Lennon, B O’Carroll (0-1). Subs: C Cox (0-5, four frees) for Lennon (9 mins), B Stack for Connolly (29 mins), K Doyle for Ruane (43 mins), J Fitzpatrick for Cregg (64 mins), E Flynn for Dolan (70 mins), A Glennon for Murtagh (70 mins).

Galway: C Gleeson; J McGrath, S Fitzgerald, E Kelly; D McHugh, J Daly, S Mulkerrin; P Conroy (0-1, one free), J Maher; K Molloy (0-1), M Tierney (0-2, one free), C Sweeney; L Ó Conghaile, R Finnerty (0-2, two frees), C Ó Curraoin (0-3, two frees). Subs: J Heaney for Kelly (38 mins), C Darcy for Ó Curraoin (55 mins), J McCabe for Finnerty (61 mins), P Egan for Mulkerrin (70 mins).

Referee: C Lane (Cork).

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