All-Ireland SFC: Tyrone edge Roscommon in thriller

All-Ireland SFC Round 1

TYRONE 3-16 (3-1-14) ROSCOMMON 2-18 (2-3-12)

By Kevin Egan at King & Moffatt Dr. Hyde Park

In a contest that was packed with moments of drama that were woven together to create a fantastic over and back tale, there was one play in particular that proved more crucial than any other in giving Tyrone their biggest win of the year so far, and derailing Roscommon’s incredible momentum.

From start to finish, this was a battle between Roscommon’s flair and commitment to all out attack, up against a Tyrone side that methodically and thoughtfully picked and prodded their way through the minefield to try and suck the life out of their flamboyant opponents, and the passionate crowd of over 16,000 people, the vast majority of which sported the home colours.

That crowd had just erupted when Enda Smith fielded a long ball in behind Peter Teague, run through and goal and slotted the ball into the bottom right corner to give the Rossies their first lead since the 16^th minute.

Ronan Daly set up Diarmuid Murtagh for a score to make it 2-15 to 2-13, and the Hyde was bouncing. Tyrone hadn’t scored in over 15 minutes themselves, they had only posted two points in the second half overall, and a low percentage shot from Michael McKernan got within a couple of yards of the left hand post, but sailed wide left.

Up to that point, Conor Carroll had been right in the mix for man of the match honours. At one stage Roscommon retained 12 kickouts in a row, and in general he did a wonderful job of taking Tyrone’s behemoth midfield of Brian Kennedy and Conn Kilpatrick out of the game, at least on that phase of play. But with the crowd whistling for a free for delaying the kickout, he rushed an attempted short restart, chipping it straight to Frank Burns.

Two passes later Mattie Donnelly was in front of goal picking out the corner of the net, and once again, the game was Tyrone’s to control.

And control it they did. They held the ball for long stretches, restricting Roscommon to hit-and-hope kicks from distance.

Paul Carey skied one of them but landed another to level the game with 68:30 on the clock, and now Tyrone were in their own unique flow state. A typically precise Niall Morgan restart was the platform for another attack where they methodically worked the ball up the pitch, culminating in an Eoin McElholm possession 30 metres out.

The Loughmacrory attacker was in scintillating form all afternoon and in desperation, Senan Lambe dragged him down, leaving Ethan Jordan to fire over the lead score with 35 seconds left.

This time Roscommon had to go long and Tyrone won the contest, ensuring they held on for a win that has the potential to completely change the course of the season for last year’s All-Ireland semi-finalists.

Even in the first quarter when the game was competitive, there was a sense that the contest was being played on Tyrone’s terms. Peter Teague and Jordan kicked excellent early points, only for the contest to be set alight when Darragh Heneghan decided to pick up where he left off against Galway. Picking up possession on the 45m line, Tyrone backed off and he didn’t need a second invitation as he picked up the pace and seared down the middle before hammering the ball into the roof of the net.

Tyrone were unperturbed and levelled through Kilpatrick, Roscommon kept nudging back in front, but there was a pattern Tyrone would hold the ball and meticulously work the ball into high percentage positions, Roscommon looked for one of their mercurial forwards to make something happen.

Conor Carroll’s kickouts gave them a good platform and that threat was omnipresent, but Tyrone had their stars too. Seánie O’Donnell, Brian Kennedy and Ciarán Daly were relentless in the midfield battleground, Eoin McElholm and Mattie Donnelly scored superb individual goals, and just before half-time it felt like a crucial swing moment when Daire Cregg coughed up possession and Tyrone ruthlessly used the turnover to set up Ethan Jordan for their only two pointer, making it 2-11 to 1-9 at the break.

It would be a stretch to say that Roscommon dominated the next 20 minutes, or even that they ever looked as sharp or as dangerous as they had against Mayo and Galway, but their defence tightened up and closed down all the holes that Tyrone exploited in the first half, they continued to use their own kickout very well, and the introduction of Conor Hand was the perfect fillip to bring them within striking distance. Then Enda Smith struck, and another fairytale was primed to unfold – until Mattie Donnelly’s goal deemed otherwise.

Scorers for Roscommon: Diarmuid Murtagh 0-8 (1tp, 0-4f), Enda Smith 1-1, Darragh Heneghan 1-0, Daire Cregg 0-2, Conor Hand 0-2, Conor Carroll 0-2 (tpf), Paul Carey 0-2 (tp), Dylan Ruane 0-1.

Scorers for Tyrone: Ethan Jordan 0-7 (1tp, 0-2f, 0-1 45), Eoin McElholm 1-3, Mattie Donnelly 1-1, Ronan Cassidy 1-0, Peter Teague 0-1, Niall Devlin 0-1, Conn Kilpatrick 0-1, Ciarán Daly 0-1, Seánie O’Donnell 0-1.

ROSCOMMON: Conor Carroll; Colm Neary, Caelim Keogh, Eoin McCormack; Ruaidhrí Fallon, Ronan Daly, Senan Lambe; Keith Doyle, Conor Ryan; Dylan Ruane, Enda Smith, Darragh Heneghan; Diarmuid Murtagh, Daire Cregg, Robert Heneghan. Subs: Conor Hand for R Heneghan (45), Shane Cunnane for Ryan (52), Paul Carey for Ruane (52), Brian Stack for Fallon (53), Cian McKeon for Cregg (59).

TYRONE: Niall Morgan; Joey Clarke, Cormac Quinn, Niall Devlin; Kieran McGeary, Peter Teague, Michael McKernan; Brian Kennedy, Conn Kilpatrick; Ciarán Daly, Ronan Cassidy, Seánie O'Donnell; Eoin McElholm, Matthew Donnelly, Ethan Jordan. Subs: Darren McCurry for Cassidy (52), Frank Burns for McGeary (52), Ciarán Bogue for Daly (62), Ruairí McHugh for Kennedy (67).

Referee: David Gough (Meath).