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Roscommon win Connacht FBD League title

Roscommon forward Cathal Cregg celebrates at Dr Hyde Park.

Roscommon forward Cathal Cregg celebrates at Dr Hyde Park.

Connacht FBD League Final

ROSCOMMON 2-16 GALWAY 3-12

By Kevin Egan at Dr. Hyde Park

The frugal defensive play that has seen Galway move to the top of the table in the Allianz League with an average score conceded of just 0-11 was nowhere to be seen this afternoon at Dr. Hyde Park, as Roscommon won their fourth FBD league title by a single point at the expense of the Tribesmen.

A late free from Diarmuid Murtagh settled the tie in favour of the home side, but it was a contest that could easily have gone either way as the play ebbed and flowed throughout the 70 minutes, with both sets of attackers enjoying uncharacteristic levels of space and freedom.

The home side burst out of the blocks with four excellent points from play in the early stages, their attack spearheaded by man of the match Cathal Cregg. The Western Gaels man was one of several Roscommon men that opted out of the county scene in 2017 and he had struggled to re-establish himself so far this season, but a 1-4 tally here will surely put him right in the mix for selection when Roscommon travel to Drogheda next Sunday.

Donie Smith and Ciaráin Murtagh also enjoyed profitable outings close to goal, but Galway looked sharp going forward too and soon undid the early damage with points from Seán Armstrong and Pádraic Cunningham.

An untimely slip from James Featherstone as he took a kickout allowed Frankie Burke to sneak in and give Galway their first lead of the game from a tap in goal, but the home side quickly regrouped to draw level, with Cregg again prominent, kicking one and earning a Ciaráin Murtagh free.

A series of poor wides from Barry McHugh might have represented black marks in Kevin Walsh’s book, but the Mountbellew/Moylough player redeemed himself after 25 minutes, playing a sumptuous pass into the path of Frankie Burke for the second goal of the tie.

Enda Smith and Cregg combined for the latter to palm in a reply for Roscommon to leave the tie finely poised at the interval, and within a minute of the restart Roscommon were level again, 2-4 to 1-7.

Points continued to flow at either end of the field as these Connacht rivals threw off the shackles and entertained the crowd with a fast, open attacking display, but there were also moments of tension too.

But Enda Smith duly glided down the wing and cut in towards goal, placing the ball into the roof of the net from close range.

As with every other meaningful lead in this game, it didn’t last long. Robert Finnerty set up Dessie Conneely for the last goal of the game and Galway should have wrapped up the tie when Johnny Heaney drove through the heart of the goal and blasted the ball over the bar with two minutes to play, shooting from 10 metres out with just James Featherston to beat.

The error was costly. Niall Daly and Diarmuid Murtagh levelled the game and with four minutes of injury played, a Galway defender was smothered by tacklers and duly gave up the overcarrying free that settled the 24th running of the FBD League.

**Scorers for Roscommon: **Cathal Cregg 1-4, Ciaráin Murtagh 0-4 (2fs), Enda Smith 1-1, Donie Smith 0-3 (1f), Diarmuid Murtagh 0-2 (1f), Ross Timothy and Niall Daly 0-1 each.

Scorers for Galway: Frankie Burke 2-0, Barry McHugh 0-4 (2fs), Dessie Conneely 1-0, Sean Armstrong 0-2, Padraic Cunningham, Adrian Varley, Robert Finnerty (f), Eoin Finnerty, Tomás Flynn and Johnny Heaney 0-1 each.

ROSCOMMON: James Featherston; Seán McDermott, Peter Domican, Philip Neilan; Tadhg McKenna, Ross Timothy, Ronan Daly; Enda Smith, Conor Daly; Fintan Cregg, Niall Kilroy, Henry Walsh; Ciaráin Murtagh, Cathal Cregg, Donie Smith.

Subs: Cathal Compton for F Cregg (HT), Conor Devaney for Walsh (HT), Niall Daly for McKenna (54), Ciarán Lennon for C Daly (58), Diarmuid Murtagh for D Smith (66), McKenna for Neilan (66).

GALWAY: Ronan Ó’Beoláin; Evan Wynne, Seán Mulkerrin, David Wynne; Gary O’Donnell; Johnny Duane, Johnny Heaney; Ciarán Duggan, Tomás Flynn; Robert Finnerty, Barry McHugh, Eoin Finnerty; Pádraic Cunningham, Seán Armstrong, Frankie Burke.

Subs: Dessie Conneely for Burke (42), Adrian Varley for Cunningham (49), Cein Darcy for McHugh (66), Gareth Bradshaw for Heaney (70).

REFEREE: Eamon O’Grady (Leitrim).