Roscommon 2-12 Meath 2-12
Roscommon played out an enthralling draw with Meath in a Division 2 tie that saw both sides throw away very commanding positions and a late equalising penalty from the Rossies' Donie Smith.
Roscommon played into the teeth of a very strong wind in the first half and they showed great efficiency, kicking 1-6 from just nine clear scoring chances.
In contrast, Meath failed to take full advantage of the wind and while Cillian O’Sullivan kicked a superb goal, six wides meant that they trailed by a point at the break, 1-6 to 1-05.
A heavy defeat for the Royals looked to be on the cards when Roscommon tacked on five points in the first eleven minutes of the second half, but an injury to Diarmuid Murtagh, sustained immediately after he kicked his fifth point of the afternoon, proved crucial and momentum shifted decisively back in favour of the visiting Royal County.
Roscommon supporters can at least breathe a sigh of relief as after the game it was confirmed that Murtagh was showing no severe ill-effects of the injury and he’s expected to be fit for what looks like a fantastic fixture next Sunday, when Roscommon will travel to an in-form Tipperary side.
#rosgaa #gaa #Allianzleagues
— Roscommon GAA (@RoscommonGAA) January 28, 2018
Full time
Roscommon : 2-12(18)
Meath: 2-12(18) Donie Smith's penalty to make it a draw. pic.twitter.com/tCQAtmlT4Z
McEntee can certainly take credit for his substitutions as Sean Tobin, Eamon Wallace and, in particular, Padraig McKeever added real impetus to the Meath attack in the last twenty minutes.
Tobin and McKeever took the fight to the home side and they picked off five points between them, despite playing into a wind that reduced the scoring radius to little more than 25 metres.
A delightful chipped pass from Seán Tobin set up the move that ended with Wallace firing in Meath’s second goal and they took a four-point lead into injury time, by which time Roscommon looked like a shadow of the side that dominated the first 45 minutes of the contest.
Roscommon rallied once again however and, after a Finbar Cregg free cut the gap, the last attack of the game led to their decisive score.
Conor Devaney showed why he was handed the captain’s armband this year when he earned a critical turnover under the terrace and when the ball was worked down to Finbar Cregg, the Western Gaels man was tripped, leaving referee Barry Cassidy with the easy decision to stretch out his arms.
Despite having spent less than ten minutes on the field, and enjoying little or no possession, Donie Smith duly stepped up to slot home the penalty, guaranteeing a share of the spoils at the end of a thoroughly enjoyable contest.
ROSCOMMON: Colm Lavin; David Murray (0-01), Niall McInerney, John McManus; Conor Devaney, Fergal Lennon, Seán Mullooly (1-00); Ian Kilbride, Tadhg O’Rourke; Niall Daly, Niall Kilroy (0-01), Enda Smith (0-01); Diarmuid Murtagh (0-05, 0-02f), Ciarán Lennon (0-01), Ciaráin Murtagh (0-02, 0-01 free).
Subs: Finbar Cregg (0-01 free) for Kilbride (25), Conor Daly for D Murtagh (46), Cathal Cregg for Kilroy (52), Ronan Daly for N Daly (54), Peter Domican for Murray (60, black card), Donie Smith (1-00 pen) for C Murtagh (66)
MEATH: Andrew Colgan; Mickey Burke, Conor Gill, Seamus Lavin (0-01); Brian Power, Donal Keogan, Shane McEntee; Adam Flanagan, Bryan Menton (0-01); James McEntee (0-01), Ben Brennan (0-02 frees), Graham Reilly; Thomas O’Reilly (0-01), Cillian O’Sullivan (1-00), Joey Wallace (0-01).
Subs: Brian Conlon for Burke (29), Padraig McKeever (0-03, 0-01 free) for O’Reilly (HT), Eamon Wallace (1-00) for Brennan (46), Sean Tobin (0-02, 0-01 free) for Reilly (46), Dan O’Neill for O’Sullivan (59), Alan Douglas for Power (70, black card), Eamon Wallace and Joey Wallace (70+6, Black cards, not replaced)
Ref: Barry Cassidy (Derry)
In the first of a new series of podcasts, RTÉ Online Sport Editor Mikey Stafford is joined by League Sunday pundits Anthony Daly, Tomas Ó Sé, Jackie Tyrrell and Ciaran Whelan for a look through the GAA stories in the Sunday papers. League Sunday is broadcast at 9.30pm on RTÉ2.
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