Giant killers Tulsk take another big scalp

They were written off beforehand, but Tulsk wouldn't have it any other way as they took Oran's scalp in Group A of the Roscommon Senior Football Championship on Saturday evening. 

A sweet 3-7 to 0-15 triumph in Creggs was made possible by substitute Kieran Donoghue's last-gasp goal in the fourth minute of injury time.

Oran found scoring opportunities much easier to come by but, crucially, Tulsk found the net at crucial times.

A brilliant individual goal from Dylan Gaughan left the winners 0-7 to 1-3 in arrears at the break. 

Darragh Walsh kicked some fine points for Oran in the second half but Daniel Connolly turned the tide for Tulsk with his side's second goal in the 50th minute.

Then, in the game's last action, Callum Fahey lofted a high ball into the danger zone and Donoghue was on hand to crash the ball to the net for a famous win.

In the other game in the group, Roscommon Gaels turned on the after-burners in the second half to comfortably see off last year's intermediate football champions, Castlerea St. Kevin's, at O'Rourke Park by 2-15 to 1-10.

Led by Peter Gillooly, the Gaels opened up a 0-7 to 0-3 lead after 23 minutes but they were rocked back on their heels as Castlerea came thundering back into the contest, aided by Niall Connaughton's goal, to allow the home side take a 1-6 to 0-7 lead into the interval.

When Connaughton pointed soon after the restart, Dara Bruen's side looked primed to mark their return to the senior championship with a big win.

But Roscommon Gaels simply dusted themselves down and went through the gears, aided by the dominance of Mark Purcell and Mark Healy around the middle of the field. 

Cian Connolly grabbed a 42nd minute goal, Rory Carthy kicked a couple of eyecatching scores from distance, and when full-back James Connolly fisted Ryan Conlon's pass across goal to the net with four minutes remaining, the turnaround was complete.

Defending champions St. Brigid's showed why they are the team to beat by taking care of business with a 0-17 to 0-6 success against Michael Glaveys in Ballinlough.

Anthony Cunningham's charges signalled their intent by racing into a seven-point lead before Andy Glennon's opened the home side's account from a free.

Brian Derwin, Bobby Nugent, Ciarán Sugrue, Conor Hand and John Cunningham had found the target for St. Brigid's, and Ruaidhrí Fallon and Nugent added further scores to leave their team 0-9 to 0-1 ahead at the interval.

The same trend continued in the second half as Brigid's continued to pick off their scores, including points for Brian Stack and Robbie Dolan, to leave no one in any doubt where the balance of power lies in this year's championship.

By the end of it all, Brigid's had nine different scorers and kicked 16 out of their 17 points from play.

In the only game played in the intermediate championship, Elphin and Pádraig Pearses clashed in what was a contest between last year's two beaten semi-finalists.

But it was Elphin who showed that they look ready to make another bid for the Jamesie Murray Cup with a comfortable 0-8 to 0-2 victory in Woodmount.

Nigel Dineen's side held Pearses scoreless in the first half, racing into a six-point lead thanks to points from goalkeeper Aaron Brady, John Finnerty, Fintan Cregg and Aidan Murray.

A young Pearses side will take solace that they, at least, gained parity on the scoreboard in the second half, thanks to points from goalkeeper Jamie Donoghue and Connell Moore in the last five minutes.

All Elphin had to show for their efforts were a couple of Fintan Cregg frees, but there was no doubting the winners' superiority. 

*Report from this evening's games in Tuesday's Roscommon Herald