National League Div 1B / Sligo 1-11 Galway 1-11: Sligo hosted their old western rivals yesterday and eventually got them cornered but just couldn't keep them there.
So luck changed hands once more and Galway sneaked out with a draw. With that, things stay interesting in the upper half of Division One B: Sligo still undefeated, and Galway still unsettled.
No question though who performed better. And if the teams do cross paths again in Connacht come the summer a result like this will clearly stand to Sligo.
From the start they were displaying a steely resolution and real enthusiasm, just like they'd done against Cavan and Laois. When their forwards got moving they appeared capable of anything and once their defence settled down none of the Galway forwards looked happy. A home victory would have been a deserved end.
Still it was a feast of football for the crowd of over 7,000, yet while Sligo had Galway cracked, they never had them broken. Eight minutes from time, with Sligo up by three points, Seán Óg de Paor burst out of nowhere and slipped the ball seamlessly into the net. Suddenly all of Sligo's hard work of the second half was undone.
They worked hard to get ahead again through a Paul Taylor free but all that hard work was undone too. In the final seconds of a five-minute period of added time, Galway charged forward and Joe Bergin was blocked. Michael Donnellan sent the free over the bar.
"Of course we're disappointed we didn't win," admitted Sligo manager James Kearins, "but I'm delighted again with the performance. And I suppose we're still unbeaten. Even when we conceded that goal I thought we could still win it. And I thought we should have got a penalty at the end, but we still have to take these decisions on the chin. But that five minutes at the end did surprise me. The linesman had said two, and they ended up playing five, which gave time for that dubious free."
In truth there was probably room for those extra five minutes, but it was still a harsh blow for Sligo. Their first-half football wasn't always the most fluent but gradually they got the upper hand. In the end Seán Davey outshone Kevin Walsh at midfield, Mark Brehony and Dessie Sloyan kicked the finest scores, and the full-back line, led by Patrick Naughton, was unruffled.
And no surprise then when John O'Mahony agreed Sligo were unlucky to come up short.
"No," said the Galway manager, "the performance from us was one we couldn't be happy with. And on the run of play Sligo would have deserved to win. I suppose I felt last Sunday after Armagh that we'd made some progress after our first match, but I'd say we went in the other direction today. But we'll dig in, and that's the topsy-turvy nature of the league."
As in their previous two outings, Galway played some sparkling football in patches. Points were exchanged for the opening 20 minutes, before Sloyan got on the end of a high ball from Johnny Davey and claimed the first goal. Sligo went four points clear before Galway's best period closed the half with three points in two minutes, including a special from Donnellan.
Padhraic Joyce wasn't benefiting from too many place kicks, but he sent one over shortly after the restart, and when Derek Savage gave a passing reminder of his presence on the field, Galway went a point up. Philip Greene made a few good stops for Sligo but Galway never once looked like running riot.
Then things fell apart for Galway, starting in the half-back line, and resulting in precious-little possession for the forwards. Nicholas Joyce was taken off once his influence had disappeared and Matthew Clancy and Tommy Joyce never looked like scoring. And still Galway ended with just five wides.
So Sligo took almost every advantage they got. Sloyan's reliable free-taking and two points from Brehony eased the home team back in front. They could have had Galway buried had Paul McGovern made better use of his free run at goal.
SLIGO: P Greene; N McGuire, P Naughton, P Gallagher; P Doohan, M Langan, D Durkin (0-1); N Clancy, S Davey; P McGovern, M Brehony (0-4), B Curran; D Sloyan (1-4, four frees), P Taylor (0-2, both frees), J Davey. Subs: P Durcan for Clancy (43 mins); A Marren for Davey (49 mins); K O'Neill for Curran (65 mins); P Neary for McGovern (71 mins).
GALWAY: B O'Donoghue; B Dooney, K Fitzgerald, M Comer; C Monaghan, D Burke, S Óg de Paor (1-0); K Walsh, J Bergin (0-2); M Clancy, P Joyce (0-3, all frees), M Donnellan (0-3, two frees); D Savage (0-1), N Joyce (0-2), T Joyce. Subs: D Burke for Blake (26 mins); J Devane for N Joyce (66 mins).
Referee: M McGrath (Donegal).
