In a decidedly uneven Connacht senior football championship quarter-final game, Sligo triumphed comfortably over Leitrim, winning 0-15 to 0-6 at Avant Money Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada, located in Carrick-on-Shannon. Sligo, led by Niall Murphy’s five points and a remarkable performance from newcomer Canice Mulligan, was clearly in control of the game and never seemed under threat. They now look ahead to the provincial semi-final match against Galway.
The showdown was the first encounter between both neighboring teams in the Connacht SFC quarter-final since 2011, a match that Leitrim emerged victorious with a three-point lead at Markievicz Park. Additionally, the clash was significant as it was between Sligo, the reigning Division Four champions, and Leitrim, the recent runners-up of Division Four. Regrettably, Leitrim was weakened due to the non-appearance of star players, Barry McNulty and Jack Foley, from the under-20 team.
Benefiting immensely from a strong wind, Sligo dominated the first half of the match, marked particularly by an impressive four points from Niall Murphy. Despite this, Sligo missed 11 potential scores in the first half. Yet, they managed to derail Leitrim’s first attack led by midfielder Pearce Dolan, whose ninth-minute goal attempt was altered to a point by Sligo goalkeeper Aidan Devaney.
The second half saw Sligo sustain their dominance, skillfully manoeuvring the ball against the strong wind. They fired six points in the second half, which included potential goal attempts from Nathan Mullen and substitute Mikey Gordon, both of whom scored in front of the goal.
Leitrim showed some resistance, matching Sligo’s tally almost equally in the second half with a score of 0-5 against Sligo’s 0-6. Darragh Rooney, the full-forward, contributed 0-2, while wing-back Donal Wrynn fired over what looked like a potential goal and substitute Evan Sweeney scored their most impressive point.
Ultimately, the game saw Leitrim reduced to 14 players when Shane Quinn was dismissed after receiving a second booking in the 67th minute.
The game included players from both the Leitrim and Sligo teams. The Leitrim team consisted of N O’Donnell, C Reynolds, M Diffley, A Flynn, D Wrynn who achieved one point, S Quinn, J Rooney, J Gilheany, and P Dolan who also succeeded in gaining one point. Others included T Prior, R O’Rourke who scored one point, P Keaney, a second R O’Rourke, D Rooney who scored two points, and J Flynn. Later in the game substitutions were made with, T Prior replaced by E Sweeney who scored one point in the 47th minute, R O’Rourke replaced by R Oberwan also in the 47th minute, C Reynolds replaced by A Reynolds in the 50th minute, J Rooney replaced by K Clancy in the 59th minute, and finally P Keaney replaced by S McLoughlin in the 63rd minute.
On the opposing side, the Sligo team included A Devaney, E Lyons, E McGuinness, N Mullen who scored two points, P Kilcoyne who scored one point, B Cox, and D Cummins who scored two points. It also included P O’Connor who gained one point, C Mulligan who earned two points, C Lally, A McLoughlin who achieved one point, S Carrabine, E Smith, N Murphy who impressively scored five points, three of which were from free kicks, and D Quinn. Later changes saw D Quinn replaced by M Gordon who scored one point after half-time, E Smith replaced by M Walsh in the 55th minute, A McLoughlin replaced by K Cawley in the 68th minute, and finally C Lally replaced by L Deignan also in the 68th minute.
Kieran Eannetta from Tyrone was the referee for this match. The game was attended by 4,117 spectators.