Galway 4-10
Leitrim 2-12
Leitrim did their best to pull off a Barcelona-style comeback this afternoon but fell short against Galway in the Connacht U21FC preliminary round in Tuam.
The underdogs trailed by 4-8 to 0-2 at half-time but hit an unanswered 2-7 in the second-half to get right back in contention, before Dessie Conneely and Paul Mannion made sure to settle the issue for the Tribesmen.
It was the visitors that had opened the scoring in this contest with a point from ace forward Ryan O'Rourke, who went off injured shortly afterwards, before Galway went on to assume control until the interval.
Goals from Robert Finnerty, Eoin Finnerty and Conneely helped surge the home side towards a seemingly unassailable 3-8 to 0-1 lead and Cillian McDaid added one more major for good measure before the interval.
The only downside of the first-half for the winners would be a sending off for wing-back Kieran Molloy, as Leitrim doubled their tally just before the break through Robbie Cunningham to trail by 18.
The game seemed over as a contest but three early points from Pearse Dolan, Keith Beirne and Mark Plunkett made for a decent resumption for Leitrim and their tails were firmly up once Dean McGovern buried in their first goal.
Further points from Beirne and Plunkett followed prior to the former burying in a second goal, despite Leitrim being reduced to 14 with the dismissal of Keith Keegan.
It left the margin at five heading towards the home stretch and by that stage the outsiders had emptied the tank, which allowed for Conneely to chip in with Galway's first score of the half 26 minutes in and Mannion backed it up to seal the victory.
The Tribesmen advance to the semi-finals where they will face reigning provincial and All-Ireland champions Mayo at this venue on Saturday, March 25th.
Galway - R O'Beolain; L Kelly, D McHugh, R Greene; S Kelly, S A Kelly, K Molloy; P Cooke (0-1), M Daly (0-1sl); C Brady (0-1), P Mannion (0-3), C McDaid (1-0); R Finnerty (1-2), E Finnerty (1-0), D Conneely (1-2). Subs: C Tarpey for S Kelly, C Brennan for P Cooke, C Darcy for E Finnerty, A O'Laoi for C Tarpey, M Boyle for R Finnerty, C Mannion for C McDaid.
Leitrim - J Burke; J Mitchell, K Keegan, L Ryan; D Feely, B Leyden, O Madden; D McGovern (1-0), M Plunkett (0-2); J Heslin (0-2), C Dolan, C Gaffney (0-1); R O'Rourke (0-1), K Beirne (1-4, 0-4f), R Cunningham (0-1). Subs: C Cullen (0-1) for R O'Rourke, P Dolan for D Feely, N McGovern for C Dolan.
Referee - P Neilan.
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