Stalemate as Leitrim miss two injury time chances to pip Sligo

Two missed frees in injury time left Leitrim feeling that Friday’s Electric Ireland Connacht Minor Championship clash with Sligo was one that got away but truth was, a draw was the fairest result as both sides missed opportunities to take the victory.

Leitrim’s opening fixture in the Minor Championship in Avant Money Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada saw them come from two points down to earn a share of the spoils in a game where both sides will rue missed chances to take the victory.

Two Paul Honeyman frees in added time, one that grazed the post and fell wide and the other with literally the last kick of the game might have given Karl Foley’s a perfect start to their campaign but Sligo could equally point to wasted opportunities as neither side scored for the final 16 minutes of play.

Fans enjoy thriller as Leitrim and Sligo end all square in Connacht MFC - GALLERY

Leitrim and Sligo shared the spoils in Avant Money Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada as the north west rivals drew 1-8 to 0-11 in the Electric Ireland Connacht Minor Championshp clash on Friday in Avant Money Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada. Observer photographer Willie Donnellan was there with his camera ... see who you can spot!

Truth be told, Leitrim lost their chance in the first half when they built an impressive 0-6 to 0-1 lead after 22 minutes and were completely dominating the game as Sligo failed to gain any traction at all as they faced a strong wind into their faces.

But missed chances cost Leitrim, Paul Honeyman seeing not one but two goal efforts denied just 12 minutes in when his first effort was brilliantly saved by Sligo keeper James Cronin before he cracked a ferocious shot off the Sligo crossbar with even a third effort from Ruairi O’Rourke being blocked.

A goal then would have put Leitrim out of sight and you sensed that the missed chances might come back to haunt the home side as Sligo hit four points in the final ten minutes of the first period to unbelievably trail by just a point at the break.

The second half saw Leitrim twice build a lead only to be hauled back in - first Honeyman played a quick one-two from a free to drill home a goal to wipe out a one point Sligo advantage. But Sligo replied with four on the bounce before sub David Liu Doyle and James Gilheaney both landed points in the space of 60 seconds to tie the scores again.

The final quarter was a tale of missed chances for both teams as caution and the tension of the game seemed to win out over the youthful exuberance we normally expect of Minor teams, both sides defending heroically but not able to match their attacking output to their defensive efforts.

Ruairi O’Rourke opened the scoring after a minute when he made a nice catch from Colm McLoughlin’s long free and showed a nice turn of pace to cut in from the corner to score. Paul Honeyman saw a 50 yard free go rebound off the post with James Gilheaney’s follow-up going wide.

Sligo’s rare forrays were easily dealt with as an off target free from Aaron Lang was easily gathered and a dominant Leitrim went four up with two points in quick succession - first Dara Greenan burst through the middle to score before Brian Keaney scored a nice solo effort from the corner.

A low ball into Keaney saw him work the ball back out to Honeyman for a ninth minute point as Leitrim led 0-4 to 0-0.

Leitrim should have goaled when they got a long ball to Paul Honeyman, his low first effort was brilliantly saved by James Cronin but the Ballinamore Sean O’Heslins clubman gathered the rebound and launched a ferocious shot at goal only to see the ball come crashing back off the crossbar.

O’Rourke gathered the ball but his shot was brilliantly smothered by a block as Sligo’s defence got the ball away and the Yeatsmen opened their score right on the 15 minute mark when Cian Carthy 45 yard free went over the bar with a little help from grazing the post.

Leitrim responded impressively, Honeyman converting a mark before scoring from a free after a foul on Keaney to put Leitrim 0-6 to 0-1 ahead after just 22 minutes. The Ballinamore youngster followed up with a wide before Sligo then found their mo-jo for the remaining ten minutes of action before halftime.

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Aaron Lang pointed after a high ball was knocked down to him in front of goal while patience saw Sligo hold onto the ball before Jim Molloy pointed. Just before the break, Sligo turned over a kickout and Conor Walsh charged forward to fist the ball over the bar.

A strong break from Cian Gallagher led to a good score for Cian Carty as Leitrim led by the minimum at the break, 0-6 to 0-5, and Sligo would have the strong wind to come in the second half.

Leitrim fears looked well proved as Lang pointed after a fabulous catch just 20 seconds after the restart while Eamon O’Mahony scored from distance after another patient move.

But Leitrim gave themselves a huge lifeline when Paul Honeyman was fouled in the left corner. Instead of going for a point, Honeyman spotted sub Josh Maye unmarked and found him with the pass before taking a quick return, bursting through two defenders to fire low and hard to the corner of the net.

Sligo’s response was impressive as they broke well with O’Mahony opting for a point even though they had men over and bearing down on goal. Cian Carty had a bad miss from a free but a strong run from captain Eoin Tuffy set up a good point for Jim Molloy who was promptly replaced by Conor McDonagh.

It seemed to matter little as Carty fired over a free from all of 60 yards with the wind behind him while Lang set up Michael Carroll for a fine point on 15 minutes to put the visitors two to the good.

Leitrim sub David Liu Doyle got himself into space and scored well from distance and from the kickout, Leitrim worked the ball to James Gilheaney who broke two tackles to fire over what turned out to be the equalising point and final score of the game with more than 13 minutes of normal time remaining.

Gilheaney shot wide from distance five minutes later, Cian Carty had a chance of a goal for Sligo but saw his effort deflected out for a fifty that was also missed. Leitrim keeper Sean Carolan Morris, who missed in added time from a long range free at the end of the first half, was also off target with a long range effort on 56 minutes.

Sligo sub Marty Murray had a bad wide before Paul Honeyman hit a remarkable 60 yard free that seemed to be heading over only to drift out and hit the woodwork two minutes into added time.

Leitrim had one last chance when a Sligo player was harshly judged to have over-carried when he was clearly tripped. Some 45 yards out and slightly to the right, Honeyman’s effort looked on target but tailed wide in the final metres as the game ended all square.

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LEITRIM

Scorers: Paul Honeyman 1-3, 1M, 1f; Ruairi O’Rourke, Dara Greenan, James Gilheaney, Brian Keaney & David Liu Doyle 0-1 each

Team: Sean Carolan Morris, Oran Foley, Eanna McNamara, Kyle Russell, Dessie Wisely, Darragh Gardiner, Bailey McBride, Dara Greenan, Adam Gethins, Aaron Gardiner, Colm McLoughlin, Paul Honeyman, Brian Keaney, James Gilheaney, Ruairi O’Rourke. Subs: David Liu Doyle & Josh Maye for Russell & A Gardiner (HT); Jack Kelly for Keaney (49); Cormac Moran for D Gardiner (61)

SLIGO

Scorers: Cian Carty 0-3, 1f; Eamon O’Mahony, Jim Molloy, Aaron Lang 0-2 each; Conor Walsh & Michael Carroll 0-1 each

Team: James Cronin, Clyde Regan, Eamon Keane, David Lyons, Liam Higgins, Oran Harte, James Lavin, Conor Walsh, Eoin Tuffy, Eamon O’Mahony, Jim Molloy, Michael Carroll, Aaron Lang, Cian Gallagher, Cian Carty. Subs: Conor McDonagh for Molloy (40); Dara Mostyn for Lang (47); Marty Murray for McDonagh (55)

Referee: D Lyons (Roscommon)