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Sligo’s hopes of promotion to Division 4 of the Allianz Football League died at Netwatch Cullen Park on Saturday night as Carlow pounced for two final points in injury time.
It was a magnificent game behind closed doors with both sides seeking victory from the throw-in. Carlow’s Paul Broderick scored two early points with the spirited Chris Blake also finding the posts.
Sligo came off the mark on a point from Pat Hughes and improved when Mikey Gordon put them in front with an opportunistic goal in the first quarter.
The game went up and down until the break with Sligo enjoying a slight interval lead from 1-07 to 0-09.
As Broderick leveled the game, it was Sligo who enjoyed a golden spell with Red Og Murphy punishing a Carlow short kick that went wrong. Quickly passing the ball through his hands, the corner forward made good use of his opportunity. Yeats County went five clear when Liam Gaughan scored another game point.
Carlow’s response was admirable with Ross Dunphy choosing his spot in the upper left corner with a languid shot for a vital Carlow 3-pointer. As Gerard Kelly-Lynch responded with a point for Sligo, Carlow felt a weakness. Paul Broderick scored three points and Darragh O’Brien also aimed to level the game at 1-13 to 2-10 with a quarter of the game left.
Carlow’s second goal came when, with his first touch after being introduced as a substitute, Conor Crowley found the bottom left corner of the net with ten minutes to go.
Chris Blake’s point made the locals top three. It was Sligo’s turn to try and save the game. They seemed to have done it when Gaughan hit three points on the trot from free play and play. The last came in the 73rd minute with three more minutes of injury time left to play.
Blacks and whites never took advantage of the momentum they had built up. Instead, Carlow struck back with the seasoned Broderick hovering over a point to push Carlow forward, while the young Darragh Murphy added the safety with just seconds remaining.
Carlow: Robert Sansom; Conor Lawlor Shane Redmond, Mikey Bambrick; Eoghan Ruth, Mark Furey, Josh Moore; Darragh Foley (0-01), Sean Gannon; Jamie Clarke, Jordan Morrisey (0-01) Darragh O’Brien (0-01); Paul Broderick (0-10, 45 0-04 free) Chris Blake (0-02), Ross Dunphy (1-01).
Subs: Sean Bambrick for Clarke (17 minutes), Robbie Molloy for Sansom (42 minutes), Conor Crowley (1-00) for Foley (60 minutes), Darragh Murphy (0-01) for Dunphy (56 minutes), Colin Byrne for Lawlor (66 minutes),
Sligo: Eamonn Kilgannon; Sean Murphy, Eddie McGuinness, Nathan Mullen; Gerard O’Kelly-Lynch (0-01), P. McNamara, Darragh Cummins; Patrick O’Connor (0-03, 0-02 free), Paul Kilcoyne; Mikey Gordon (1-00), Conor Griffin, Sean Carrabine (0-01); Red Og Murphy (1-02), Liam Gaughan (0-06, 0-03 free), Pat Hughes (0-02).
Subs: John Carr for McNamara (46 minutes), Paul McNamara for Kilcoyne (46 minutes), Ryan Feehily for Murphy (51 minutes), Barry Gorman for Griffin (54 minutes), David Quinn for McNamara (66 minutes),
Referee: Fergal Smyth (Offal)
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