Allianz FL D1: Roscommon resist Armagh comeback
Enda Smith of Roscommon in action against Gareth Murphy of Armagh during the Allianz Football League Division 1 match between Roscommon and Armagh at King & Moffatt Dr Hyde Park in Roscommon. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile.
Allianz National Football League Division 1
ROSCOMMON 3-18 (3-4-10) ARMAGH 0-24 (0-4-16)
By Kevin Egan at King & Moffatt Dr. Hyde Park
6,317 supporters were in King and Moffatt Dr. Hyde Park and while it was the Roscommon contingent who went home happy, every single one was held in thrall for 70 incredible minutes of action that saw Roscommon explode out of the starting blocks with two early goals and Armagh rally with seven points in the last ten minutes, leaving them one goal short by the time Niall Cullen’s final whistle sounded.
The Orchard men had plenty of chances to score that all-important goal. While Roscommon had four clear cut goal chances and took three, with Dylan Ruane hammering one shot off the crossbar, Armagh could easily have had as many and more in the second half, but just didn’t have the same clinical edge.
Cian McConville hammered one chance wide, Oisín O’Neill attempted to finish off a flowing move with a flick of the wrists but couldn’t quite generate enough power, and both Ross McQuillan and Greg McCabe fired shots over the bar when aiming to rattle the twine at the graveyard end.
The biggest swing moment of all was ten minutes into the second half when Armagh were flying high on the back of consecutive two-pointers from Oisín O’Neill and Andrew Murnin, then another kickout win led to McQuillan driving through and slamming the ball past Aaron Brady.
While the Armagh crowd went wild, referee Niall Cullen spoke to his linesman to confirm a breach from Armagh in the buildup, so instead of 2-15 to 1-14, the goal was scratched off and Diarmuid Murtagh chipped over the 20m free to extend the lead back to eight points.
The Rossies still needed more.
Armagh kept pressing, and just as the home side dominated the kickout battle in the opening half with the wind, the Ulster County did the same after half-time, pressing up on Brady’s restarts and winning the majority of rucks and scrums when the ball broke.
Brady’s 45 extended the lead, but Armagh hit four of the next five and it began to look like 2-18 mightn’t be enough.
That made Jack Duggan’s decision to turn down the easy fisted point and instead look for Paul Carey at the far post all the more admirable. Duggan has added plenty to this Rosocmmon attack this year and he floated a perfect ball to the Pearses man, who rose highest to ensure he found the net.
Armagh still had plenty in the tank as they tried to avoid a second consecutive defeat, but despite hitting another brace of doubles, they couldn’t find the goal they needed.
When Roscommon reflect on the game, they’ll know that it was their fluid, flowing football in the opening 35 minutes – not to mention their dominance of the kickout exchanges.
They wasted no time in setting the tone. Diarmuid Murtagh opened the scoring with a two-pointer, and after Oisín O’Neill replied with a point, Murtagh and Enda Smith both found the net 40 seconds apart, setting Roscommon on the way to a 2-9 to 0-3 lead after 19 minutes, with Smith, Murtagh and Daire Cregg all scoring freely.
They would need every bit of it before this rollercoaster of a game would come to an end.
Scorers for Roscommon: Diarmuid Murtagh 1-7 (1tpf, 2tp, 1f), Daire Cregg 0-6 (1tp, 2f), Enda Smith 1-2, Paul Carey 1-0, Robert Heneghan 0-1, Darragh Heneghan 0-1, Aaron Brady 0-1 (45).
Scorers for Armagh: Oisín O’Neill 0-7 (1f, 1tp, 1tpf), Cian McConville 0-5 (2f, 1tp), Ross McQuillan 0-3, Greg McCabe 0-3, Andrew Murnin 0-2 (tp), Callum O’Neill 0-1, Tiernan Kelly 0-1, Gareth Murphy 0-1, Tomás McCormack 0-1
ROSCOMMON: Aaron Brady; Eoin McCormack, Caelim Keogh, Niall Higgins; Ronan Daly, Eoin Ward, Senan Lambe; Keith Doyle, Conor Ryan; Dylan Ruane, Enda Smith, Darragh Heneghan; Robert Heneghan, Daire Cregg, Diarmuid Murtagh.
Subs: Colm Neary for McCormack (half-time), Paul Carey for D Heneghan (47), Jack Duggan for Ryan (51), Ciarán Lennon for Murtagh (61), Eoin Colleran for Ruane (66).
ARMAGH: Blaine Hughes; Paddy Burns, Peter McGrane, Gareth Murphy; Tiernan Kelly, Greg McCabe, Ross McQuillan; Callum O'Neill, Andrew Murnin; Oisín Conaty, Fergal O'Brien, Conor Turbitt; Cian McConville, Oisín O'Neill, Jarly Óg Burns.
Subs: Ben Crealey for O’Brien (28), Tomás McCormack for Burns (43), Jason Duffy for Conaty (51), Darragh McMullan for McGrane (51), Dan McCarthy for Murnin (60).
Referee: Niall Cullen (Fermanagh).
