Rossies just about keep the lid on Armagh’s second-half comeback
Diarmuid Murtagh celebrates his first-half goal for Roscommon against Armagh at King and Moffatt Dr. Hyde Park. Picture: INPHO/James Lawlor
Roscommon just about kept an Armagh comeback at bay to gain two huge Division One League points against the 2024 All-Ireland champions at King and Moffatt Dr. Hyde Park.
Mark Dowd’s men played some breathtaking football, with the wind behind them, to lead by 12 points at the break.
But, in the modern game, any buffer appears precarious nowadays and, sure enough, the visitors launched a stirring second-half comeback, wiping out Roscommon at midfield to get within a score at the final whistle.
A huge turning point was the decision to disallow a goal from Armagh wing-back Ross McQuillan for a breach. An Armagh three-pointer at that stage would have left four points between them, and there was still plenty of time on the clock for the Orchard County to complete their comeback.
As it was, the breach allowed Diarmuid Murtagh to stretch his side’s lead back out to eight points, and Paul Carey’s goal with nine minutes remaining allowed Roscommon to keep their opponents at arm’s length in what was a chaotic second half.
Roscommon’s first-half performance was pretty much close to perfection, with two goals inside a minute and four two-pointers putting them very much in the ascendancy when Niall Cullen brought the opening 35 minutes to a close.
The team’s workrate — spearheaded by Dylan Ruane and Player of the Match Enda Smith — was off the charts, as evidenced by the turnover that procured the opening two-pointer of the game for Diarmuid Murtagh.
Even though Oisín O’Neill replied instantly for Armagh, things were about to get better for the Rossies.
Daire Cregg teed up Diarmuid Murtagh for a goal before Enda Smith snaffled Blaine Hughes’ resultant short kickout and duly grabbed a second goal.
Another big turnover resulted in a point for Robert Heneghan, and Roscommon were 2-3 to 0-1 ahead after only four minutes.
A couple of Cian McConville scores stemmed the bleeding temporarily from an Armagh perspective before the home side took flight once more.
Murtagh’s second two-pointer of the half ignited another flurry of scores, and when Roscommon’s top scorer — from a two-point free — and Daire Cregg added further two pointers, Mark Dowd’s side were 14 points to the good after 25 minutes.
A hat-trick of scores from Gareth Murphy and Oisín O’Neill (2) just about kept Armagh in the hunt, but a Daire Cregg free on the hooter left the home side 2-14 to 0-8 in front at the change of ends.
And yet with the wind at their backs for the second half, Armagh still would have felt they were in with a chance.
Enda Smith and Tiernan Kelly swapped scores at the start of the second half but Armagh, despite enjoying much of the possession, hit some poor wides, with Cian McConville blasting wide with the goal at his mercy.
A fisted point from Greg McCable was followed by a couple of two-pointers from Oisín O’Neill and Andrew Murnin as Armagh’s momentum mushroomed.
Roscommon couldn’t get their hands on Aaron Brady’s kickouts but when McQuillan’s goal was disallowed, Murtagh’s free and a ’45 from Brady eased fraying nerves — just slightly.
Great work by Jack Duggan allowed Paul Carey to palm the ball to the net in the 61st minute to leave nine points between the teams.
But Armagh were far from finished. A two-point free from Oisín O’Neill, was followed by an effort from substitute Tomás McCormack.
Armagh’s fourth two-pointer of the half soon followed from Cian McConville, and when McCabe landed his third point of the half, the gap was down to three.
But Roscommon held on, igniting their survival hopes as Armagh’s dismal record in the Hyde continued.
