Saints still searching for senior breakthrough

The Sligo senior men’s football final almost delivered a first time winner of the competition on Sunday, but the ladies final did deliver just that on Saturday in wet and wintry Tubbercurry.

Eoghan Rua – drawing players from the parishes of Castleconnor, Kilglass and Easkey – came good to land a first-ever senior title with a comprehensive defeat of long-time kingpins St Nathy’s in a replay, after the initial decider ended in a 1-6 to 0-9 draw.

It represents a milestone moment for women’s football in Tireragh and is a testament to many people who have helped Eoghan Rua become such a vibrant club in the 20-odd years since its foundation.

With a good age profile and a steady stream of underage talent set to graduate to the senior ranks in the coming years, Eoghan Rua is well primed to establish itself as the leading club in the county.

With the notable results for Coolera-Strandhill, who won the Connacht junior title, and Drumcliffe/Rosses Point, who beat Castlebar Mitchels in the Connacht intermediate championship, it was a very good weekend for Sligo LGFA.

It was also a good weekend for their counterparts in Sligo GAA, with the county board quite pleased, I’d imagine, with two draws from the three men’s county finals held over the weekend.

The marquee fixture at Markievicz Park on Sunday delivered in spades, with St Molaise Gaels and Coolera-Strandhill serving up a senior final filled with tension in dire weather conditions.

There will be much debate over the dramatic conclusion, with St Molaise Gaels having had a free 40 yards from goal to win the game deep into added time. Alan McLoughlin had the ball in hand but decided to go short to Joe Keaney, who then had a shot at goal. However, referee Michael Duffy blew the full-time whistle before Keaney’s shot found the target.

We must assume that, with time up, McLoughlin’s effort was considered to be the last kick – so anything beyond that would see the full-time whistle blown. This caused some consternation among the St Molaise Gaels players but, once things had calmed down, the decision was accepted. The North Sligo club’s manager, Jimmy Langan, said as much in his post-match interview and had already turned his attention to the replay.

Indeed, St Molaise Gaels will probably feel that they have real scope for improvement ahead of the re-fixture. Granted, they let a winning position slip but they got to that position having started the game quite poorly when playing with the breeze and only a late spurt in the closing stages of the first-half saw them restore parity at five points apiece at half-time.

You could also make the point that 1-1 in 33 second-half minutes is hardly enough to win a county title – though it very nearly did – so the men from the foot of Benbulben will feel they have lots of room to improve.

Of real concern will be an injury which forced Luke Towey, one of the county’s top players, off from the pitch early. His fitness, having struggled with injury for large chunks of recent seasons, will be pivotal for this Sunday’s rematch.

You have to admire Coolera-Strandhill for the way they dug out this result. Jack Davitt’s goal early in the second-half left them on the back foot, but they did superbly to retrieve the situation late on and, with momentum on their side, may have even snatched it.

Niall Murphy was particularly effective in the opening half and they won some brilliant turnovers in the final quarter, with Ross Doherty’s levelling score the highlight.

The conditions, the scoreline and the potential of history for both clubs weighed heavily on the frantic closing passages of play. St Molaise Gaels enjoyed quite a bit of possession in that period and it begs the question, could they have been more aggressive in going in search of a winner?

That would be a harsh assessment and the sequence of play worked almost to perfection because Molaise Gaels gave themselves an opportunity to win it, with no chance of a Coolera-Strandhill counter. Will they rue the ending of this drawn match next week?

I would argue that a better day weather wise may suit a St Molaise Gaels team full of pace. The aforementioned Luke Towey eats up the ground but Luke Casserly, Jamie McLoughlin and Liam Kennedy are also well able to change through the gears as they emerge from defence.

Coolera-Strandhill have loads of experience – Keelan Cawley was again quietly effective, as was Ross O’Carroll, while Peter Laffey also contributed handsomely and helped tie up Alan McLoughlin at times. Their title-winning know-how will also play a big role in the lead-in to next week’s match-up and was on show last weekend as they carved a draw out of a game that looked destined to see them relinquish their title.

It’s hard to know what way a replay will go between these sides.

Judging by body language, Coolera-Strandhill were undoubtedly the happier unit heading for the dressing-rooms on Sunday last, knowing they had come from a bad position to snatch a draw.

Jimmy Langan and his management team will have a big job this week in helping get the heads right in St Molaise Gaels, but they can take a lot from Sunday’s game. They didn’t push on from being in a winning position, but remember they are trying to win a first-ever county senior title. They don’t come easy, especially the first one, so they’ll take a lot from the experience of playing in just the club’s third-ever decider.

Of the 1-15 scored between the two teams the last day, only 1-7 came from play. We expected it to be cagey, and the weather made sure it was. It’s hard to look at the replay being anything other than another close-run thing, so strap in for another thriller.