National Football League Division One: Roscommon 3-18 Armagh 0-24
For the second time in two games, a breach call against Armagh proved crucial to a thrilling contest, with the latest one helping condemn the visitors to defeat at Dr Hyde Park on Sunday.
Against Galway, it was a two-point free before half-time that kept the Tribesmen in the game when Armagh were on top. Against Roscommon, the decision saw Armagh’s only goal scratched off the board, just when they were coming with a wet sail. When they next had the same momentum, the final whistle cut them short before they could draw level.
It was a game where goal chances made all the difference. Roscommon created four and took three. Armagh created five and took none, and that’s not including the one time they did put the ball past Aaron Brady in the Roscommon goal.
When Ross McQuillan slammed the ball inside Brady’s near post, there were 10 minutes gone in the second half and the Orchard men had just landed back-to-back two-pointers from Oisín O’Neill and Andrew Murnin. The half-time lead of 12 points was down to four, or so the crowd of 6,317 supporters thought.
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Then Niall Cullen spoke to his linesman to confirm a breach from Armagh in the build-up, so instead of 2-15 to 1-14, the goal was scratched off and Diarmuid Murtagh chipped over the 20m free to restore Roscommon’s lead to eight points, with Brady adding the next from a 45 shortly afterwards.
That still wasn’t enough, as there were plenty of scores yet to come. Roscommon needed one more big one, and they got it when Jack Duggan opted against the simple punch over the bar and instead floated the ball across to Paul Carey, who knocked the ball into the net to make it 3-18 to 0-18.
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, though they created three more chances.
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 kick-out exchanges – that powered them over the line.
They wasted no time in setting the tone. Murtagh opened the scoring with a two-pointer, and after Oisín O’Neill replied with a point, Murtagh and Enda Smith 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.
The Rossies have performed surprisingly well this season despite missing their St Brigid’s contingent and being without a host of big-name players who stepped aside over the winter, and their football in this phase of the game was as good as they’ve produced in any game. Smith was to pick up the TG4 Laoch na hImeartha award but that could just as easily have gone to Senan Lambe or Dylan Ruane, who were heroic in the trenches.
They would need every bit of their resolve before this rollercoaster of a game would come to an end. With Ben Crealey adding heft in the middle, Armagh turned the screw on Roscommon’s kick-outs and monopolised possession after half-time.
If they had been able to finish efficiently, the outcome would probably have been different.
ROSCOMMON: A Brady (0-0-1, 45); E McCormack, C Keogh, N Higgins; R Daly, E Ward, S Lambe; K Doyle, C Ryan; D Ruane, E Smith (1-0-2), D Heneghan (0-0-1); R Heneghan (0-0-1), D Cregg (0-1-4, 2f), D Murtagh (1-3-1, 1tpf, 1f).
Subs: C Neary for McCormack (h-t); P Carey (1-0-0) for D Heneghan (47 mins); J Duggan for Ryan (51); C Lennon for Murtagh (61).
ARMAGH: B Hughes; P Burns, P McGrane, G Murphy (0-0-1); T Kelly (0-0-1), G McCabe (0-0-3), R McQuillan (0-0-3); C O’Neill (0-0-1), A Murnin (0-1-0); O Conaty, F O’Brien, C Turbitt; C McConville (0-1-3, 1f), O O’Neill (0-2-3, 1tpf, 1f), J Óg Burns.
Subs: B Crealey for O’Brien (28 mins); T McCormack (0-0-1) for Burns (43); J Duffy for Conaty, D McMullan for McGrane (both 51); D McCarthy for Murnin (60).
Referee: Niall Cullen (Fermanagh).
