Gaelic Games

Armagh’s goals the difference as they see off misfiring Roscommon

Ruaidhrí Fallon’s sending off at the end of the first half left Roscommon with a huge battle to contain Armagh

Armagh’s Conor Turbitt celebrates scoring his side's second goal during the All-Ireland SFC quarter-final against Roscommon at Croke Park. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho
Armagh’s Conor Turbitt celebrates scoring his side's second goal during the All-Ireland SFC quarter-final against Roscommon at Croke Park. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho
Kevin Egan at Croke Park
Sun Jun 30 2024 - 13:15
All-Ireland SFC quarter-final: Armagh 2-12 Roscommon 0-12

Rain floated gently from the heavens to create conditions in which errors could thrive on Saturday afternoon in Croke Park. And with the weight of history also bearing down on the shoulders of Armagh and Roscommon, the two sides produced a forgettable, scrappy contest that was ultimately decided by Conor Turbitt’s goal for the Orchard County in the 51st minute.

“I don’t think we played well. It was probably our worst performance in Croke Park, but I suppose from the fellas’ point of view, it probably shows how far they’ve come on and the way they can play” said Armagh manager Kieran McGeeney.

“We’ve played much better; our skills were poor. Going forward today we missed a lot of chances”.

McGeeney, who carried with him the dark cloud of the loss of his uncle, Peter Kelly, said that “the good outweighed the bad” for his team, as they ended a run of six consecutive All-Ireland quarter-final defeats.

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There was no such mitigation for Davy Burke and Roscommon, a county that still hasn’t won a championship game in Croke Park since meeting Armagh all the way back in the 1980 All-Ireland semi-final.

[ Armagh 2-12 Roscommon 0-12: As it happened ]

“You couldn’t dream of more of a horror script, could you?” was the rueful reaction of the Kildare native.

“David Murray and Ultan Harney gone after 15 minutes, then Ruaidhrí [Fallon] gone on a red just before half-time on the back of three weeks in a row, and playing Armagh”, he said with a rueful shake of the head.

And well he and the Rossies might regret. One week ago, they went north to Healy Park in Omagh and picked up a memorable win after scoring 0-14 from 18 shots. Here it was 0-12 from 31 attempts, including none out of their first six, and 0-4 out of 14 first-half efforts.

Between them, Diarmuid Murtagh, Conor Cox, Daire Cregg and Donie Smith accounted for 2-61 out of Roscommon’s total score of 4-75 in the 2024 championship before Saturday. Against Armagh, Murtagh and Cox shot one point from play each – Murtagh’s arriving late in the game, when Roscommon needed a miracle – while Cregg and Smith between them racked up a significant share of the team’s misses.

Many of those were in the first half, when a ruthless finish from Barry McCambridge helped Armagh to build up a 1-3 to 0-1 lead with half an hour gone. Roscommon were soon to lose Fallon to a second yellow card, but a run of five points in a row, three before half-time and two excellent scores from Eoin McCormack and Dylan Ruane after the break, levelled the game.

Roscommon’s Ruaidhrí Fallon is sent off by referee Martin McNally at Croke Park. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho
Roscommon’s Ruaidhrí Fallon is sent off by referee Martin McNally at Croke Park. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho

“Yeah, we got to six all and we got a terrible decision given against us, Blaine Hughes overcarried there on the end line, eight steps and we didn’t touch him and he gets a free out,” railed Burke.

“Red card, no problem, but momentum was huge and if we go a point up there. Armagh aren’t used to winning these games either”.

They mightn’t be used to it, but they found their way, albeit without showing anything like the same class that they did throughout the majority of the round-robin stages.

Stefan Campbell’s introduction gave their attack a focal point and he chipped in with two points and an assist after coming on at half-time, while Oisín Conaty was very lively as he brought his tally to the day to four from play.

The killer blow came on 51 minutes when Conor Turbitt dispossessed Niall Higgins, Tiernan Kelly pounced on the break to play Turbitt in on goal. His ruthless finish inside the far-left post turned a competitive contest into one in which no amount of defensive heroics from Brian Stack could overcome the complete misfiring of Roscommon’s attack.

“We knew that Armagh were more physical than us and we weren’t going to play through them, we needed to play around them,” Burke said.

“I think we did, we just didn’t execute. I think if you give Diarmuid Murtagh and Daire Cregg that game back, they kick six or seven points, but they didn’t this time. Then, when you’re a man down for 40 minutes after three weeks in a row, of course conditioning is going to take over”.

McGeeney, for his part, didn’t deny how much of a psychological hurdle his team had to cross in order to prevail.

“It’s hard for the fellas, no matter what they do, struggling to get credit. Armagh hasn’t been in many [All-Ireland semi-finals] outside of our own squad; outside of that I think we had five in 130 years, so this is a big step for this team and it’s an indication that they can step up to that.

“Even in the other years, we were beaten on penalties, but we definitely showed that we could live with the other teams in terms of football. But there’s no doubt about it, there’s a bit of relief there”

ARMAGH: B Hughes; P McGrane, P Burns, A McKay; T Kelly, B McCambridge (1-2, 0-1m), A Forker (0-1); R O’Neill, B Crealey; O Conaty (0-4), N Grimley (0-1), J McElroy; R Grugan, A Murnin, C Turbitt (1-2, 0-1f).

Subs: S Campbell (0-2) for Murnin (h-t); O O’Neill for R O’Neill (49 mins); R McQuillan for Forker (temp, 50-58); A Nugent for Grugan (55); C Mackin for Crealey (64); J Duffy for Forker (70).

ROSCOMMON: C Carroll; N Higgins (0-1), R Fallon, R Dolan; D Murray, B Stack (0-1), E McCormack (0-1); E Smith, S Cunnane; R Daly, D Murtagh (0-1), D Cregg; U Harney, C Cox (0-5, 0-4f), D Smith

Subs: D Ruane (0-2) for Murray (7 mins); C Lennon for Harney (15); A McDermott (0-1) for D Smith (55); C Heneghan for Daly (61); A Glennon for Cunnane 67.

Referee: M McNally (Monaghan).