2005 Sligo Senior Football Championship

This is a round-up of the 2005 Sligo Senior Football Championship. The year saw Coolera, who had suffered two final defeats earlier in the decade, end their long wait for Championship glory, stretching back to 1907. They defeated Curry in the final, who had disposed of the holders Tourlestrane after a semi-final replay. No team was relegated in 2005, in order to bring the number of competing teams up to 16 in 2006.

2005 Sligo Senior Football Championship

Tournament details
County	Sligo
Year	2005
Winners
Champions	Coolera/Strandhill (2nd win)
Manager	Alan Kelly
Captain	Neil Carew/Con O'Meara
Promotion/Relegation
Promoted team(s)	Coolaney/Mullinabreena
Relegated team(s)	n/a

Group Stages

The Championship was contested by 15 teams, divided into three groups of four, and one of three. The top two sides in each group advanced to the Quarter-Finals.

Group A

Date	Venue	Team A	Score	Team B	Score
July 24	Ballymote	Bunninadden	1-14	St. Molaise Gaels	1-4
July 24	Ballymote	Calry/St. Joseph's	1-15	Tubbercurry	0-8
August 6	Ballymote	Tubbercurry	1-15	Bunninadden	0-12
August 6	Markievicz Park	Calry/St. Joseph's	1-16	St. Molaise Gaels	0-7
August 13	Kent Park	Tubbercurry	0-15	St. Molaise Gaels	0-4
August 14	Markievicz Park	Bunninadden	1-9	Calry/St. Joseph's	0-6

Team	Pld	W	D	L	For	Against	Pts
Calry/St. Joseph's	3	2	0	1	2-37	1-24	4
Bunninadden	3	2	0	1	2-35	2-25	4
Tubbercurry	3	2	0	1	1-38	1-31	4
St. Molaise Gaels	3	0	0	3	1-15	2-45	0

Group B

Date	Venue	Team A	Score	Team B	Score
July 21	Tubbercurry	Coolera/Strandhill	2-7	Castleconnor	0-10
July 24	Tubbercurry	Curry	1-12	St. Mary's	1-6
August 7	Tubbercurry	Coolera/Strandhill	1-7	Curry	0-9
August 7	Tubbercurry	Castleconnor	1-7	St. Mary's	0-10
August 14	Markievicz Park	Coolera/Strandhill	1-13	St. Mary's	0-6
August 14	Easkey	Curry	1-13	Castleconnor	1-8

Team	Pld	W	D	L	For	Against	Pts
Coolera/Strandhill	3	3	0	0	4-27	0-25	6
Curry	3	2	0	1	2-34	3-21	4
Castleconnor	3	0	1	2	2-25	3-30	1
St. Mary's	3	0	1	2	1-22	3-32	1

Group C

Date	Venue	Team A	Score	Team B	Score
July 24	Markievicz Park	Tourlestrane	1-15	Shamrock Gaels	0-7
July 24	Markievicz Park	Drumcliffe/Rosses Point	1-10	St. John's	2-5
August 7	Markievicz Park	Drumcliffe/Rosses Point	0-9	Shamrock Gaels	0-9
August 7	Enniscrone	Tourlestrane	0-15	St. John's	0-7
August 13	Markievicz Park	Tourlestrane	1-13	Drumcliffe/Rosses Point	1-6
August 14	Ballymote	Shamrock Gaels	0-14	St. John's	1-11

Team	Pld	W	D	L	For	Against	Pts
Tourlestrane	3	3	0	0	5-34	4-23	6
Drumcliffe/Rosses Point	3	1	1	1	3-27	2-28	3
Shamrock Gaels	3	0	2	1	4-25	2-33	2
St. John's	3	1	1	2	1-26	5-30	1

Group D

Date	Venue	Team A	Score	Team B	Score
July 24	Tubbercurry	Eastern Harps	1-14	Ballymote	1-13
August 7	Enniscrone	Easkey	0-12	Ballymote	0-5
August 14	Tubbercurry	Eastern Harps	1-16	Easkey	1-10

Team	Pld	W	D	L	For	Against	Pts
Eastern Harps	2	2	0	0	2-30	2-23	4
Easkey	2	1	0	1	1-22	1-21	2
Ballymote	2	0	0	2	1-18	1-26	0

Playoffs

Only one group required a playoff. In Group A Calry/St. Joseph's, Bunninadden and Tubbercurry all finished level on points, with Calry/St. Joseph's gaining top spot on scoring difference. Bunninadden and Tubbercurry met in the playoff, and it was Tubber who were victorious, as they had been in the earlier group meeting. This was the fifth year in succession that Bunninadden had not reached the knockout stages, going back to their 2000 title victory.

Group	Date	Venue	Team A	Score	Team B	Score
Group A	August 21	Ballymote	Tubbercurry	1-10	Bunninadden	0-8

Quarterfinals

The quarter finals of the Championship saw the exit of Calry/St. Joseph's, Tubbercurry, Easkey and Drumcliffe/Rosses Point. Curry, Coolera/Strandhill, Tourlestrane and Eastern Harps qualified for the semi-finals. The Tourlestrane/Easkey proved a bizarre affair, with Easkey failing to score for over forty minutes. By then Tourlestrane had racked up 2–10 and were preparing for the Semi-Finals.

Game	Date	Venue	Team A	Score	Team B	Score
Sligo SFC Quarter Final	August 27	Markievicz Park	Coolera/Strandhill	1-13	Tubbercurry	1-11
Sligo SFC Quarter Final	August 27	Markievicz Park	Curry	1-20	Calry/St. Joseph's	1-10
Sligo SFC Quarter Final	August 28	Markievicz Park	Tourlestrane	2-13	Easkey	0-3
Sligo SFC Quarter Final	August 28	Markievicz Park	Eastern Harps	1-8	Drumcliffe/Rosses Point	0-8

Semifinals

The Semi-Finals saw the defeat of reigning champions Tourlestrane, beaten by rivals Curry after a replay. In the other Semi-Final Coolera/Strandhill withstood a late Eastern Harps rally to claim their place in the final.

Game	Date	Venue	Team A	Score	Team B	Score
Sligo SFC Semi-Final	September 4	Markievicz Park	Coolera/Strandhill	1-10	Eastern Harps	0-12
Sligo SFC Semi-Final	September 4	Markievicz Park	Curry	1-8	Tourlestrane	0-11
Sligo SFC Semi-Final Replay (After Extra-Time)	September 10	Markievicz Park	Curry	1-11	Tourlestrane	1-7

Last eight

Quarterfinals August 27/August 28

Semifinals September 4

Final September 18

Coolera/Strandhill

1-13

Tubbercurry

1-11

Coolera/Strandhill

1-10

Eastern Harps

0-12

Eastern Harps

1-8

Drumcliffe/Rosses Point

0-8

Coolera/Strandhill

0-10

Curry

0-9

Curry

1-20

Calry/St. Joseph's

1-10

Curry

1-8, 1-11 (R)

Tourlestrane

0-11, 1-7 (R)

Tourlestrane

2-13

Easkey

0-3

Sligo Senior Football Championship Final

Coolera/Strandhill	0-10 - 0-9 (final score after 60 minutes)	Curry
Manager:Alan Kelly Team: J. Curran R. O'Connor K. Cooney A. Kelly T. Watters N. Carew G. McCarroll C. O'Meara K. Quinn (0-1) S. Carty J. McPartland (0-5) K. O'Neill S. Quinn (0-1) B. Doyle (0-1) C. Mullen (0-1) Substitutes: C. Quinn (0-1)	Half-time: 0-6 0-4 Competition: Sligo Senior Football Championship (Final) Date: 15.30 BST Sunday, September 18, 2006 Venue: Markievicz Park, Sligo Referee: Michael Duffy (Enniscrone) Match rules: 60 minutes. Replay if scores still level. Maximum of 5 substitutions.	Manager:Francis Henry Team: J. Durcan B. Collins J. Feeney S. Marren S. Haran Barry McDonagh K. Morley G. Maye (0-1) S. Davey (0-1) K. Giblin D. Colleary (0-2) A. Marren (0-2) P. Henry (0-1) P. Durcan Brian McDonagh (0-2) Substitutes: A. Brennan

References

• Sligo Champion (Summer/Autumn 2005)
• Sligo Weekender (Summer/Autumn 2005)
• Western People (September 2005)