Heartbreak for minors
Derry 1-13 Sligo 0-15
Sligo’s
brave bid to reach a first All-Ireland semi-final in 49 years fell agonisingly
short at MacCumhaill Park, Ballybofey last Saturday after Derry squeezed past
the Yeats County by a single point.
In what was
a cracking contest, Sligo will rue the fact that Derry dominated a key 20
minute period after half-time, which saw them establish a three point lead with
Richie Mullan’s goal the decisive score.
However, to
their credit, Sligo battled hard and clawed their way back to level terms
before Patrick Quigg’s late free pushed Derry into the lead once more as time
ran out on Sligo’s challenge.
Undoubtedly
the star of the show was Curry’s Red Óg Murphy who gave a superb display in
kicking 0-11 for Sligo, but David Cummins’ side ultimately came up short on an
afternoon when things could have gone either way.
Sligo were
excellent for much of the encounter, but especially in the opening half where
they built a 0-10 to 0-6 interval lead.
Murphy was
in outstanding form at full forward, kicking eight first half points, while
Ciaran O’Dowd and Barry Gorman also got in on the scoring act.
Derry were
second best throughout the half, but kicked some late scores to leave
themselves 0-10 to 0-6 in arrears at the break.
Sligo went
0-11 to 0-6 ahead when Barry Gorman got their second half challenge off to the
perfect start, but the next 15 minutes saw Derry take control.
The Ulster
side started to gain a better foothold in the middle third, and built on that
with a succession of points before Richie Mullan rattled the Sligo net to push
Derry into the lead, 1-10 to 0-12.
Two further
points left matters at 1-12 to 0-12 and Sligo looked in trouble, but David
Cummins’ side showed tremendous fight to claw their way back into proceedings
with three unanswered points.
Cian Brett
started the Sligo comeback before Murphy hit two terrific points – one of which
was a free from 50 metres – to restore parity.
Derry,
though, battled back and earned a free which Quigg fired over, but Sligo too
had chances in the closing stages with one attempt hitting the post.
Despite a
Derry point being chalked off by referee James Molloy, Sligo ran out of time as
Derry secured a semi-final spot in a heart-breaking finish to an exciting contest.
Sligo: Alan
Davey; Evan Lyons, Brian Cox, James Weir; Karl McKenna, Evan Lavin, Oisin
Conlon; Niall Colsh, Barry Gorman (0-2); Roland Anderson, Luke Towey, Ciaran
O'Dowd (0-1); Conall Ryan, Red Og Murphy (0-11, 7fs), Cian Brett (0-1). Subs:
Oisin Higgins, Conan Marren, Ben Tuohy, Josh Ellis, James Carroll.