Sligo slip up again as Roscommon prevail

Sligo's penchant for conceding silly goals caught up with them again yesterday when Roscommon drove them out of the Connacht championship in their replayed semi-final at Markiewicz Park.

Sligo had conceded two goals in the last 10 minutes in Hyde Park last week and were required to salvage a draw with a late `45' from their captain Brendan Walsh; but yesterday no such rescue operation was available and as a result of that they have now lost their inspirational manager Mickey Moran from Derry.

Yesterday Sligo seemed to indicate that they could leave their previous performances behind them and advance to another Connacht final; but, once again, they blundered and were caught by a quickly taken free kick which yielded a goal at a crucial stage of the game.

Their entire defence was exposed as Roscommon's Nigel Dineen and Tommy Grehan swept through their slumbering defence to leave the unfortunate Pat Kilcoyne helpless.

Yesterday a draw and extra time loomed towards the end but to Roscommon's great credit they kept up their considerable momentum and brushed aside Sligo's rather inept efforts. Roscommon did not impress all that much in the early part of the game. Yet Sligo failed to produce the kind of football which had made them the dominant force in last week's encounter and things were evenly matched up until the 30th minute.

At that stage Sligo were ahead by 0-7 to 0-6 after Ken Killeen and Con O'Meara had scored consecutive points. It was then that Sligo conceded a rather silly free in the middle of the field and Lorcan Dowd, Dineen and Tommy Grehan unlatched the defence, to allow Grehan to drive in and place the ball accurately behind Kilcoyne to register what was to be the most important score of the day.

Sligo were disconcerted to say the least as Roscommon lifted the tempo considerably and Grehan followed up with a point to give Roscommon a one-goal lead at halftime. It was clear that Sligo were now in something of a crisis as they tried to get back in touch.

What will amaze many people is that Sligo's approach to the midfield area of the contest was, to say the least, naive. Paul Durcan and Con O'Meara seemed to be overawed by the Roscommon pair of Gerry Keane and Tom Ryan; and throughout the match, particularly in the second half, the Sligo duo insisted on trying to fist the ball out of the midfield and thereby gave the marauding Roscommon half-backs Ciaran Heneghan, Clifford McDonald and Michael Ryan possession that, otherwise, they could not have expected. McDonald in particular was splendid throughout the match.

Up front, Sligo were having problems as Enon Gavin moved in to police the main attacking player Paul Taylor. There was little that Sligo could do as the Roscommon men made the most of their superiority while playing against the wind int he second half.

It must be said that Sligo never really wilted but there was a lack of co-ordination throughout the second half which indicated that they did not have the leadership qualities which McDonald and Eddie Lohan had provided for Roscommon.

The run of play meant that the two teams were seldom very far from each other as far as scoring was concerned; but in the long run it was very much a fact that the Roscommon goal was the turning point. Not only did it give them the initiative coming up to half-time; but it also sowed doubts in Sligo's minds about their own defensive qualities. Even though Sligo had the advantage of a brisk breeze in the second half, they still conceded the first point after the break and from then on it seemed that Roscommon had the advantage.

Sligo managed to narrow the gap when Paul Taylor, always a very hardworking player, pointed a `45' in the 25th minute and then added a point from play which reduced the deficit to two. Several bad misses by Roscommon followed before Sean Davey cut the lead to a point with six minutes to go.

Lorcan Dowd stretched the lead a little bit for Roscommon; but Paul Taylor, fighting gallantly towards the end, reduced the deficit again on 35 minutes. But after a number of Sligo attacks had broken down, mainly because of bad delivery of the ball forward, the referee Seamus Prior finally signalled the end of the game with Roscommon just that tantalising point in front.