Sligo minor gaelic footballers suffered a narrowly two-point defeat in their opening match of the 2019 Connacht minor championship at Tuam stadium on Friday evening as Galway ran out 0-15 to 1-10 winners.
In truth, Michael Duffy’s team were more than a match for their opponents, and had they been more accurate in front of goal in the opening quarter of the game, they might have run out handsome winners.
This was a highly entertaining match with Galway playing most of the second-half with 14 players. following the dismissal of Galway centre half-back Darragh Kennedy following an off the ball incident.
The Connacht minor football championship is being played on a round-robin basis this year. Each team plays four matches. Then the top team in this mini-league will quality directly for the Connacht final. The second and third-placed teams will meet in a provincial semi-final.
SLIGO: J Teape, M Connolly-McGowan, J Lavin, O Hynes, C Mulligan, C McKeon, C Finn, O McDonagh, J Keaney (0-1), D Walsh, E Smith (0-4, 0-2fs), L Casserly, L Deignan, O Gorman (0-3), G Duffy (1-1) Subs: J Davis, C Matthews (0-1).
Sligo minor manager Michael Duffy spoke to Gavin Cawley after the game:
In Friday’s other game, Mayo beat Roscommon comprehensively in Ballina by 4-14 to 0-5.
Round 3 is next Friday night, with Leitrim heading to the Hyde to play Roscommon and Sligo hosting Mayo in Markievicz Park.
