JUST EIGHT TEAMS are left standing in the race to succeed Kildare as All Ireland U-20 football champions after the finalists were confirmed in Connacht, Munster and Ulster.
Galway were definitely the biggest eye catchers on the night as they sliced through Sligo – last year’s finalists – to set up a tile against Roscommon on Saturday week.
The Tribesmen had a bye in the final set of round robin games so this was their first outing in top of the ground conditions, and they were devastating. With the wind at their backs they moved 0-12 to 0-1 up after 18 minutes, with Shane Canavan defending very well against star forward Luke Marren at one end.
Shay McGlinchey was a force of nature in the middle and Jack Mullin took advantage of his very late call up to rattle off four excellent points from play.
A goal for Connor Flynn before half-time reduced the gap to eight and Sligo were much improved in the second half, particularly after Dillon Walsh and Eli Rooney (0-3) came off the bench to add impetus, but Galway never led by less than six and continued to knock over scores consistently, with Cian Murphy, Ciarán Mulhern and goalkeeper Eamon McGrath kicking two each in a game that finished 0-23 to 1-12.
In Munster, the big game was at Super Valu Páirc Uí Chaoimh where Cork were similarly dominant in the early stages of their game against Clare, leading by 20 at half time and the same at full-time, 5-18 to 0-13.
Young Rebel runners cut through the Clare back line at their ease in the first half, and after putting four points on the board, Ross Corkery drove in from the wing to set up Hugh O’Connor for a simple first goal, and O’Connor returned the favour to the Nemo Rangers corner forward almost immediately.
Corkery, Ed Myers and Dara Sheedy filled their boots with 3-9 between them – just 0-1 of that from a free – with Myers and O’Connor adding goals three and four before half-time.
The second half was a much more timid affair, with Sheedy rolling in goal number five midway through the half while Clare offered a bit more up front, albeit leaning heavily on Darren Keane dead ball scores throughout.
It was much closer in Austin Stack Park where Kerry beat Tipperary by 1-15 to 1-10, though the absence of any competitive edge here was a factor.
Kerry led by the odd point in five – Daniel Kirby kicking the only point that came from play – after 20 minutes and it was still tight at the break, 0-5 to 0-4, before 1-1 from Tomás Kennedy and 0-2 from Cormac Dillon in the third quarter gave them breathing room.
That helped them push eight clear, though Tipp stayed at their task manfully and were full value for their late goal from Daithí Hogan.
That Munster Final will be played this night week in Tralee, the same night that the Athletic Grounds in Armagh will play host to a Derry versus Tyrone Ulster decider.
Tyrone were one of the teams that was earmarked from a long way out as strong contenders this year, but they were pushed to the absolute wire by Monaghan in Omagh. Cormac Devlin and Ronan Fox got goals at the start of each half to help them overcome the concession of 0-10 to Stephen Mooney.
A 28-point victory for Tyrone in the round robin stages, albeit in a system where eight of the nine counties would make a quarter-final, was no indication of what was to come here, even allowing for Devlin’s early goal.
Caolan Foy played well as a Monaghan sweeper and they were right in it at 1-5 to 0-7 at the break, but Fox’s goal five minutes into the second half ensured that Tyrone always led, however narrowly.
Ryan McNicholl was Derry’s hero at MacCumhaill Park in Ballybofey, kicking a point three minutes into stoppage time to give Derry a 1-12 to 0-14 win over Donegal.
Donegal kicked the first three scores of the game and were well worth their 0-7 to 0-4 half-time lead, which they extended through Luke McGlynn within 60 seconds of the restart.
But Derry then struck an Oisín Doherty goal and then went on an 0-7 to 0-1 run, before late points from Cian McMenamin, McGlynn and Kevin Lynch looked as if they had sent the game to injury time.