Roscommon and Galway forced to settle for share of the spoils
Daire Cregg reacts to this afternoon's draw against Galway at Dr. Hyde Park. Picture: INPHO/Ben Brady
Roscommon and Galway picked up their first points of this year's Division One League after becoming embroiled in a dogfight dictated by the windy conditions at Dr. Hyde Park.
Davy Burke brought St. Brigid's trio Robbie Dolan, Ruaidhrí Fallon and Ben O'Carroll into his starting 15 beforehand, and by the end of the first half, Brian Stack was also catapulted into action as Roscommon struggled with the breeze behind them.
But they showed admirable resilience in the second half to rescue a point that could yet prove vital at the end of the campaign.
Conor Cox was Roscommon's top scorer with 0-5 after replacing the injured Ciarán Lennon inside the first ten minutes.
A hat-trick of points from the Éire Óg player left Roscommon 0-7 to 0-4 ahead at the break, but that lead didn't appear to be enough given the strength of the breeze.
Crucially, Galway never got ahead of the Rossies in the second half, and points from Ben O'Carroll and Diarmuid Murtagh (free) restored their side's three-point lead.
Points from Kieran Molloy, Matthew Tierney and Paul Conroy brought the Tribesmen level as Roscommon suffered the blow of losing Donie Smith to a straight red card.
But the home side hung on for a point as their attention turned to a meeting with All-Ireland champions, Dublin, in Croke Park on Saturday, February 17th.
