Diarmuid Murtagh and substitute Cathal Cregg shone for the champions as Roscommon claimed a ninth straight championship win over Leitrim to reach a third Connacht final in a row.
Leitrim went 40 minutes without scoring after they fired their second point in the ninth minute, although a big impact from Leitrim’s bench, where six points arrived from, meant they didn’t fall too far behind in the final quarter.
But Roscommon were a long way better than their hosts, and with 12 different scorers from play, they eased their way into the Connacht final, where they will face either Sligo or Galway on 17 June.
Aided by a strong wind in the first-half Roscommon would have been thrilled to go in 0-09 to 0-02 ahead at the interval, but the home side will no doubt have been dismayed that they failed to build on a decent start at Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada.
Some patient play from Leitrim allowed Keith Beirne to kick the first score of the game, but after four minutes Jack Heslin was denied by a smart save on the Roscommon line, which would have give Benny Guckian’s side a significant lift.
After that missed goal chance, Leitrim soon found themselves behind as Diarmuid Murtagh scored twice, and although Beirne responded with a free to level matters Leitrim failed to score again for the rest of the half.
With Brian Stack performing well around the middle for Roscommon Kevin McStay’s forwards were getting a plentiful supply of ball and they landed the next seven points of the game as the Murtagh brothers, Fintan Cregg, Stack and Enda Smith all found the target.
Indeed only for a fine Diarmuid McKiernan save Smith’s shot would have delivered a goal rather than the point.
Leitrim had their chances and Beirne missed a couple of tricky frees, while the 1994 Connacht champions were also guilty of giving the ball away cheaply, which cost them dearly with scores at the other end.
Leitrim attempted to shake things up in the forward line by moving Donal Wrynn into the full-forward line, but nevertheless, the Roscommon dominance continued in the early minutes of the second-half.
Conor Devaney, Donie Smith and Niall Kilroy kicked their first points of the game, before Leitrim finally ended their shocking run when substitute Darragh Rooney pointed four minutes after his introduction.
There was also an early impact from another sub Ryan O’Rourke – both players had originally been named to start but were withdrawn before the start – but his point only put 11 points between the sides.
But Roscommon too had power hitters to arrive, and Cregg landed four from play, while Shane Killoran also split the posts to secure the win.
Roscommon: Colm Lavin; David Murray, Peter Domican, Niall McInerney; John McManus (0-01), Fintan Cregg (0-01), Brian Stack (0-01); Cathal Compton (0-01), Tadhg O’Rourke (0-01); Enda Smith (0-02), Niall Kilroy (0-01), Conor Devaney (0-01); Dónal Smith (0-02), Diarmuid Murtagh (0-05, 0-02 frees), Ciaráin Murtagh (0-03, 0-01 free).
Subs used: Conor Daly for Enda Smith (52), Cathal Cregg (0-04) for Ciaráin Murtagh (52), Shane Killoran (0-01) for Brian Stack (59), Ronan Stack for Kilroy (59), Finbar Cregg for Dónal Smith (61), Padraig Kelly for Compton (66).
Leitrim: Diarmuid McKiernan; Alan Armstrong, Paddy Maguire, Michael McWeeney; Noel Plunkett, Shane Quinn (0-01), James Rooney; Mark Plunkett, Dean McGovern; Jack Heslin, Emlyn Mulligan (0-01, ’45), Brendan Gallagher; Aidan Flynn, Keith Beirne (0-02, 0-01 free), Dónal Wrynn.
Subs used: Ryan O’Rourke (0-01) for Heslin (36), Darragh Rooney (0-02) for Beirne (43), Damien Moran (0-03) for Mark Plunkett (52), Oisin Madden for Gallagher (52), Eoin Ward for James Rooney (68), Domhnall Flynn for Aidan Flynn (70).
Referee: Joe McQuillan (Cavan).
