Roscommon made a bright start to yesterday’s Allianz League Division 3A clash at Dr Hyde Park, and once Armagh corner-back Barry Short received a red card after just 12 minutes, the Rossies powered on to record a comfortable win that puts them firmly back in the driving seat for promotion.
he influence of former manager Seamus Qualter, who stepped back into the breach just over a fortnight ago following the parting with Francis O’Halloran, was also clea as there was a real positivity and energy to their hurling yesterday.
Inagh-Kilnamona man Eoin Fitzgerald was the star of the show in the opening half, popping two excellent points and getting on a huge amount of ball in the middle third of the field, while full-forward Naos Connaughton also made a tremendous impact up front in his first start of the year, both as a primary receiver of the ball and as a distributor, bringing other Roscommon attackers into the game around him.
Three well-struck long-range points from Eamon Flanagan helped Roscommon to lead by 0-14 to 0-3 at half-time, and with no wind advantage to speak of, there was little doubt, even at that early stage, about the likely result.
Roscommon got off to a perfect start in the second half, too, with Connaughton sweeping home a goal from close range after Conor Mulry’s initial effort was blocked, while at the end of a drab second half where neither side really got any fluency going, he also turned provider for the second Roscommon goal, setting up a simple finish for Mulry.
Scorers – Roscommon: C Mulry 1-4; N Connaughton 1-2; P Fallon (5f) 0-5; E Flanagan (0-1f) 0-3; E Fitzgerald 0-2; E Kiernan, A Donnelly, J Dowling, D Mulry 0-1 each. Armagh: C Jennings (3f) 0-4, F Donnelly (1f), D Magee 0-1.
Roscommon – E Lawless 7; D Mullen 6, M Ward 8, T Fleming 7; E Flanagan 8, C Cosgrove 8, D Finn 6; MJ Egan 6, E Fitzgerald 9; E Kiernan 7, A Donnelly 7, B Mulry 5; N Connaughton 9, P Fallon 7, C Mulry 8. Subs: G Egan 6 for Connaughton (12-17, temp), J Brennan 7 for Fitzgerald (34), J Dowling 7 for MJ Egan (37), G Egan 6 for B Mulry (47), D Mulry 7 for Fallon (59), J Dillon for Cosgrove (67).
Armagh – F Woods 6; O O’Hare 6, N Lennon 5, B Short 4; O Curry 7, T Nevin 6, S McPartland 7; P McBride 5, C, Jennings 7; S Harvey 5, C Reneghan 6, T McKavanagh 5; S Óg McGuinness 5, D Magee 6, F Donnelly 5. Subs: P Lappin 8 for Lennon (half-time) N Curry 7 for McBride (half-time), O McCann 6 for McKavanagh (45), T O’Hare 6 for McGuinness (51), K Laverty for Harvey (64).
Referee – C Doyle (Tipperary).
