Connacht SFC Final: Roscommon 3-21 (3-4-13) Galway 2-22 (2-6-10)
Paul Earley bounded up to the press box after the Connacht final and declared it the greatest ever win by a Roscommon team. Nobody was arguing. In the 61st minute, Galway replacement Damien Comer, back from his endless cycle of injury misfortune, crashed the ball to the net to give the champions a six-point lead, 2-22 to 3-13.
What followed was a remarkable sequence of furious attack, launched and relaunched with calm intensity. Galway didn’t score again and were spectators as Roscommon notched eight scores without reply – three two-pointers and two singles.
There was big bench impact as Paul Carey and then Daire Cregg launched two-pointer either side of a Conor Carroll ’45. With the margin down to one and Galway unable to get their hands on the ball, Diarmuid Murtagh kicked a two-point free after Comer had hindered Cian McKeon running a free and referee Seán Hurson applied the penalty advancement.
With the clock winding down, Shane Walsh had the presence of mind to make space for a two-point equaliser, but his shot drifted slightly wide. His manager Pádraic Joyce commended him for having the courage to take on the shot. The hooter blared before the restart could happen.
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This spellbinding contest marked the culmination of a landmark year for Roscommon, now, for the first time, holders of all three Connacht football titles − senior, under-20 and minor. Afterwards, manager Mark Dowd acknowledged that the opportunity to make history had been a motivation for them.
Their predecessors from 25 years ago had been presented to the crowd at half-time – the last time the county had won the Nestor Cup at Dr Hyde Park before a capacity crowd of 22,799.
Roscommon had a few people to thank for their deliverance. Man-of-the-match Darragh Heneghan’s pacy incisions caused Galway no end of difficulty and he was at the heart of the team’s most telling spell in the first half when they managed to score two goals in little more than a minute.
They had just fallen eight behind as Galway built on a goal after 65 seconds by Rob Finnerty and in the 20th minute Kieran Molloy shot a two-pointer for a 1-9 to 0-4 lead.
A minute later, Heneghan was in for a shot that Conor Flaherty saved only for cousin, Robert Heneghan to slot the rebound. Within a further minute, Darragh had scythed through the defence, played a 1-2 with Colm Neary and slammed in goal number two.
Dowd paid tribute.
“In fairness to Darragh, that’s him. He came back from struggling with a hamstring injury from earlier on in the year, got himself back into great contention there as well.
“As did others, like Ruaidhrí Fallon came on the pitch today, we had Stacky (Brian Stack) togged out today which was brilliant. Another two weeks on for him has put him in contention.”
Paul Conroy rallied Galway with a two-pointer, but effectively the champions had to build their lead all over again and the double goal strike had enthused Roscommon to intensify their running assault on suddenly leaky looking opponents.
Walsh, who had an exceptional match, built a three-point lead at half-time by firstly intercepting a kick-out intended for Pat Gavin and setting up an attack that Dylan McHugh finished with a point and then kicking a two-pointer.
The interval lead of 1-14 to 2-8 felt light because of the wind, which Galway had harnessed for two-pointers and Joyce conceded as much.
Roscommon hit the ground running, and after a point by Seán Kelly had extended Galway’s lead, they reeled off four points, including their first two-pointer from Conor Ryan to level at 2-12 to 1-15.
Darragh Heneghan followed up with a goal, scorching the defensive cover to put them in front, 3-12 to 1-16.
Comer came off the bench to add to Galway’s threat and he made a major impact, finishing with 1-2, his goal a great buccaneering run and thunderous finish.
It looked like being enough, but Roscommon, with a good league behind them and a thumping win over Mayo in the Connacht semi-final, had more still. They will play Tyrone in the All-Ireland series in a fortnight back at the Hyde.
For Galway, it was an opportunity to win a fifth succession Connacht title for the first time in over 60 years, but Joyce wasn’t disguising the team’s main priority, having lost two All-Ireland finals in the past five seasons.
Asked would it be challenging to refocus the team after the disappointment, he said: “I don’t have much to do to motivate our lads. We know the longer-term picture in Galway was to win the All-Ireland, so we’re still in the hunt to do that.”
ROSCOMMON: C Carroll (0-0-1’45); P Gavin, C Keogh, E McCormack; E Ward, R Daly, S Lambe (0-0-1); K Doyle (0-0-1), C Ryan (0-1-1); D Ruane (0-0-1), E Smith, D Heneghan (2-0-2); D Murtagh (capt; 0-1-5, 1tpf, 3f), C Neary, R Heneghan (1-0-0). Subs: D Cregg (0-1-1f) for R Heneghan (46 mins), R Fallon for Ward (50), P Carey (0-1-0) for Gavin (58), C Hand for Neary (62), S Cunnane for Ryan (64), C McKeon for D Heneghan (65, temp).
GALWAY: C Flaherty; J McGrath, L Silke, J Glynn; D McHugh (0-0-1), K Molloy (0-1-0), S Kelly (0-0-2); P Conroy (0-2-0), J Maher (capt); D O’Flaherty, C McDaid, C D’Arcy (0-0-1); R Finnerty (1-0-1), R Roche, S Walsh (0-3-3, 1tpf, 1′45, 1f). Subs: F Ó Laoi for O’Flaherty (h-t), D Comer (1-0-2) for Roche (42 mins), J Daly for Molloy, C Hernon for Conroy (both 50), M Tierney for Finnerty (59), S McGrath for McDaid (61).
Referee: S Hurson (Tyrone).
