U20 round-up: Roscommon draw yet again with Galway

Roscommon 0-06

Galway 0-06

With just one round of games to go in the Eirgrid Connacht Under-20 football championship, Galway have secured their place in the knockout stages – either directly into a final, or into one of the two semi-final slots – while all four other counties are still in the hunt, following tonight's two draws at Markievicz Park and Dr Hyde Park.

Roscommon were arguably the happier side at the final whistle in Dr Hyde Park after they salvaged their third draw in succession, though Galway can at least be sure of a knockout game, with Roscommon facing into a winner-take-all contest against Leitrim next week.

While the action in Sligo was free-scoring, where the home side hit 2-11 to Leitrim's 1-14, it was a very different contest at the Hyde, where both teams operated with defensive cover on a dismal and grey night.

Though the playing surface held up well, greasy conditions and high levels of defensive effort led to a huge amount of turnovers, not to mention 12 wides, seven for the visiting side.

Galway did look that bit more potent from open play up front however, and they will be disappointed not to have built on their half-time position, where they led by a single point after playing into the tricky diagonal breeze.

They were never headed in the second half, and each of the three frees that Shane McGinley kicked in the second half were a little bit short of clear-cut calls for referee Barry Judge, but on the other side of the coin, the same player had the game’s best goal chance and it took a top drawer save from goalkeeper Eamon McGrath to keep his net untouched.

Roscommon’s best phase in the game was the opening 20 minutes, when they struggled to put scores on the board but controlled possession,