Sligo set for Mayo showdown after shocking Roscommon

Superb Sligo scored a shock 1-14 to 0-13 victory over Roscommon to set up a Connacht Senior Football Championship final showdown against Mayo.

Corner forward Adrian Marren hit 1-7, a man-of-the-match performance for the winners. That haul included a 32-minute penalty which gave Sligo a buffer they maintained throughout. 

But the penalty was only part of the story. Sligo were tenacious in defence, ambitious in attack and in Marren, David Kelly and Mark Breneny, they had the personnel up front to add the gloss all that was good about their rearguard. 

By contrast, Roscommon, tipped for a long summer by many and expected to subdue Sligo, were wasteful and lacking in composure. They enjoyed plenty of possession, particularly through the first half, but too often, they hurried unnecessarily and were too casual in their execution.

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A missed free, followed by a missed goal chance from point blank range from Cian Connolly suggested victory would be Sligo's but then Marren et al made plenty in addition to those dollops of luck.

The victors started brightly with Championship debutant Cian Breheny hitting the opening point after just one minute.

Marren followed with a free and Enda Smith replied for Roscommon and they traded influence through 70 minutes. 

By the time Marren converted Sligo's fifth point on 23 minutes the Yeats County attacker was looking every inch the match-winner but then Roscommon had performers too - Smith was a menace and Cathal Cregg's direct running was more than a little concerning. 

Because if Sligo looked steady at the interval, Roscommon built up a head of steam upon the resumption.

Unfortunately for them their momentum stuttered under the strain of casual execution and that gilt-edged goal chance that somehow got stuck under Cian Connolly's feet after Smith created something out of nothing.

Undeterred, the Rossies mounted wave after wave of attack and there was just a goal between the teams when Smith pointed with less than 10 minutes to go. 

Marren - who else? - responded for Sligo but when Cathal Shine was black-carded you just knew the game was up for John Evans.

Mark Breheny, Marren, and Kelly remained calm and most importantly they maintained that efficient execution that was a feature of their game from the beginning and that was really the end of Roscommon's Connacht challenge.

Sligo: A Devaney; R Donovan, K McDonnell, D Maye; K Cawley, B Egan, E Flanagan; C Breheny(0-2), N Murphy; C Davey, M Breheny (0-2), N Ewing; D Kelly (0-2), P Hughes (0-1), A Marren (1-7, 3f, Pen).

Subs: B Curran for Davey (35 +3), S Gilmartin for C Breheny (62).