Allianz Football League Division Two

ROSCOMMON 1-16 WESTMEATH 0-12

By Kevin Egan at Dr. Hyde Park

In a notoriously unpredictable division, Roscommon have found a rich vein of form and their third win in succession means that they sit on top of their Allianz League table, with two crucial promotion deciders against Armagh and Cavan still to play.

For Westmeath, promotion and relegation are both still on the table, with their next clash – a midlands derby against Laois – likely to be of huge importance to both sides.

An immaculate surface at Dr. Hyde Park greeted the two teams, but the lingering effects of storm Jorge were still to be felt in the cold, sharp wind that blew down from the town end of the field.

The arena was lit up when Conor Cox celebrated his first start of the season with a haymaker of a point from all of 55 metres, taking full advantage of the strong breeze that blew at his back.

That roused the home crowd, who really had cause to celebrate a couple of minutes later when a quick free from Cathal Cregg set in train a well-executed team attack that ended with Conor Daly palming the ball to the net.

Defensively, Roscommon were playing superbly well at this stage of the game. They flooded the defence and with the scoring zone reduced to around 30 metres from goal due to the wind, Westmeath struggled to create clear cut scoring chances. Both sides were trying to play on the break, and while Westmeath struggled to get shots away, Roscommon did better in terms of carving out chances but were let down by their accuracy.

Their lead was still five points as half-time approached, but crucially, the Rossies hit another purple patch and four points in succession – three frees and another excellent score from Cox – made it 1-9 to 0-3 at half time.

Two excellent Ronan O’Toole points from distance hinted at a possible revival for the Lake County, who had the option of shooting from distance after the change of ends, but Roscommon always had that bit more cut about them on the break and some excellent scores from Niall Kilroy and Ciarán Lennon kept them well in control of the tie.

After scoring three points in the first eleven minutes of the second half, Westmeath failed to score for the next 13 – a hammer blow to their chances of mounting a comeback.

Enda Smith had the chance to add a second goal when a push in Cian McKeon’s back led to a penalty award, but his spot kick crashed back into play off the crossbar, and he somehow managed to kick the ball over the bar from six metres out on the rebound.

Unlike his two previous penalties this Spring against Laois and Kildare, this one was inconsequential. Westmeath kept working hard and substitutes Lorcan Dolan and Darren Giles gave Jack Cooney something to think about when they kicked late points, but the visitors never looked like threatening Colm Lavin’s goal, and a fourth consecutive clean sheet means they’ll feel like they have every chance of going to the Athletic Grounds and curtailing a strong Armagh attack on Saturday week.  

Scorers for Roscommon: Conor Cox 0-6 (3fs, 1m), Donie Smith 0-5 (4fs), Conor Daly 1-0, Cian McKeon, Cathal Cregg, Niall Kilroy, Ciarán Lennon, and Enda Smith 0-1 each.     

Scorers for Westmeath: John Heslin (3fs) and Ronan O’Toole 0-3 each, Luke Loughlin, Denis Corroon, Ray Connellan, Ronan Wallace, Lorcan Dolan, and Darren Giles 0-1 each.  

ROSCOMMON: Colm Lavin; David Murray, Conor Daly, Mark Richardson; Niall Daly, Brian Stack, Conor Hussey; Tadhg O'Rourke, Enda Smith; Niall Kilroy, Cian McKeon, Hubert Darcy; Donie Smith, Conor Cox, Cathal Cregg.

Subs: Cathal Compton for Cregg (49), Ciarán Lennon for D Smith (56), Finbar Cregg for Darcy (58), Padraig Scott for Hussey (65), Richard Hughes for Scott (68, blood), Dylan Ruane for McKeon (70+2).

WESTMEATH: Jason Daly; Anthony McGivney, Kevin Maguire, Boidu Sayeh; Killian Daly, Ronan Wallace, David Lynch; Denis Corroon, Ray Connellan; Sam Duncan, Ronan O’Toole, James Dolan; Luke Loughlin, John Heslin, Callum McCormack.

Subs:  Tommy McDaniel for McCormack (48), Conor Coughlan for Lynch (48), Conor Slevin for McGivney (60), Lorcan Dolan for Connellan (66), Darren Giles for Duncan (69).

REFEREE: Barry Tiernan (Dublin).