Connacht SFC Final/Sligo 1-10 Galway 0-12:After the match and the unstoppable pitch invasion and the famous speech, a group of Sligo folks stood looking at the scoreboard as though it were a holy thing. The fact that it was one of the more ordinary looking score lines in Gaelic games made it all the more miraculous. Hundreds of Sligo football people have tried and given up on trying to figure a way to win the two or three matches in succession that would give them a provincial title.
It eluded them all. Through the 1980's and 1990's, Sligo football people looked back at the magical reference year of 1975 with a combination of nostalgia and embarrassment. The importance of that one championship year was beginning to dwarf Ben Bulben. They felt in their hearts that it should not have been this long, that they were better than 32 years of nothing. But they had no way of proving it. Until yesterday.
Sligo last beat Galway in the championship in that shimmering year of 1975 on an afternoon when Mickey Kearins, the superlative player of that era, chipped in with ten points. If that touchstone championship year was predicated on individual artistry, then this brand new accomplishment at Hyde Park was about the fundamentals of teamwork.
Sligo had several key performers here, certainly, but it was the sense of togetherness and absolute unity of purpose with which they set about beating Galway that distinguished them.
There was something apt about the fact that Eamon O'Hara, an all-time Sligo great, was forced to retire and watch the grand finale from the sideline. Late in the first half, he had finished the one truly beautiful phase of football in the match with a stunning goal.
When big Kieran Quinn broke a ball, Michael McNamara was onto it like a magnet and clipped a lovely ball forward for the tricky corner forward David Kelly. O'Hara came tearing through the Galway back line like a 100 metre sprinter and Kelly found him with a perfect pass. The finish was clinical, a bold and clean statement that, unlike other years, Sligo would be fearless here, that they would see off the pressures of the day.
But with O'Hara made lame for the last 20 minutes, it was up to the rest and they carried him to a Connacht medal. Sligo won despite scoring just three points in the second half. It was a poor match for attacking play and Sligo found ways to keep their noses in front - a huge 45 from their bright young wingback Johnny Davey, the O'Hara goal, a massive point from substitute Kenneth Sweeney and the crucial score, in the 70th minute from Michael McNamara.
Twice in the second half, Galway edged back to within one point and there was the sense that tradition would assert itself. But Sligo had several valiant performances from Charles Harrison and Ross Donovan, who were ferociously aggressive at corner back and captain Noel McGuire, who looked completely composed all afternoon.
Kieran Quinn's return has provided Sligo with a formidable midfield partnership and veteran forward John McPartland responded to his elevation to the first team with two fine first half points.
Although Sligo's efforts to secure this third Connacht title kept the match highly dramatic, the listlessness of the Galway performance was the other main theme. Intense and blistering against Mayo in late May, Galway have deteriorated in form since then. For ten minutes in the first half here it appeared as if it would be business as usual when they reeled off five points on the trot.
The celebrated forward unit looked sharp and inventive, with Ja Fallon bursting onto ball at speed and causing serious problems. Then, they simply dried up. Kieran Quinn became the dominant midfield figure and, emboldened by a terrific Mark Breheny point, Sligo forgot that they are supposed to lose to Galway.
Michael Meehan had a glaring goal chance late in the first half and froze the defence with a brilliant pass fake but flashed his shot wide with his left foot. The easy goal never came and Galway did not seem inclined to knuckle down and try and win it the tough way. Midfield faded in the second half, Diarmuid Blake looked incensed when withdrawn on 58 minutes. Fallon was valorous all through, Joe Bergin shone in patches, Finian Hanley handled a lot of pressure at full back and Nicky Joyce kept looking for ball without managing to cut loose as he did against Leitrim.
But the Galway inventiveness and instinct was absent for much of the match. For all that, it is a part of Galway's heritage to claim these titles without playing especially well. They might have sneaked it here as well.
Barry Cullinane rumbled through for a late goal chance and Fallon almost concocted an equalising point with an outside -of-the-boot attempt. After a moment of theatrical hesitancy, the umpires waved it wide.
It is not to late for Galway to resurrect their All-Ireland challenge but yesterday's signs were not encouraging. Padraig Joyce fled Roscommon town quickly and other senior men looked deeply dismayed. Galway are as much of a puzzle now that they have concluded the Connacht championship as they were at the start of the year. And who would have predicted champagne days in July for Sligo back then?
SLIGO: P Greene; C Harrison, N McGuire, R Donovan; P McGovern, M McNamara (0-1), J Davey (0-1, 45); E O'Hara (1-0), K Quinn (0-1); B Curran, B Egan, S Davey; D Kelly, M Breheny (0-4, 3 frees), J McPartland (0-2). Subs: K Sweeney (0-1) for B Egan (49 mins), P Doohan for E O'Hara (50 mins inj.), A Marren for D Kelly (64 mins), B Phillips for M McNamara (71 mins).
GALWAY: P Doherty; K Fitzgerald, F Hanley, D Burke; M Comer, D Blake, D Meehan; J Bergin, N Coleman; D Savage (0-1), J Fallon (0-2), N Joyce (0-2, one free); M Meehan (0-1), P Joyce (0-5 frees), C Bane (0-1). Subs: S Armstrong for C Bane (45 mins), B Cullinane for M Meehan (48 mins), N Coyne for D Blake (58 mins), M Clancy for N Coleman (64 mins). Bookings: D Burke (16 mins), J Bergin (65 mins.
Referee: Brian Crowe (Cavan)
