National Football League/Division 1A; Roscommon ; 2-13; Donegal 1-12 Amid high excitement at Hyde Park yesterday, Roscommon saw off Donegal to win Division One A of the Allianz National Football League.
Although the match was an enjoyably hectic affair, most of the excitement was being generated by word trickling in from other venues, which indicated that Tyrone's grip at the top of the table was being loosened in Cork.
It was a well deserved win for John Tobin's side and afterwards the manager was very happy. "It was a bit of a motivation for us that we only got there by default last year (when Tyrone were ruled out by the foot-and-mouth restrictions). We won Connacht and then went out of the championship disappointingly. I'm delighted with the improvement shown since and think we've shown great consistency this campaign."
His counterpart, Mickey Moran, was philosophical about the difference between the teams. "In the first half they wanted to win it, we didn't. Their goals were bad ones for us. But we came back well and had chances for goals ourselves - a very good one for Colm (McFadden), who put it over the bar. If that had gone in we were on a roll and they were rocked back but that's not taking away from Roscommon."
The turning point came in the 44th minute when a long-range free from Stephen Lohan bounced in the goalmouth and rolled into the net despite the presence of a couple of players on the line. That score halted a menacing looking comeback from Donegal, which had trimmed a five-point Roscommon lead to a point.
Thereafter, although Donegal showed great spirit and kept pace with the home side, they couldn't make significant inroads on the deficit.
For the opening half an hour, the match looked dead as a contest. Donegal might have opened the scoring inside the first minute but they struggled for the next half hour. Both teams were getting some possession around the middle but Roscommon were so much more assured in their forward movement and finishing that they opened up an eight-point lead, 1-6 to 0-1.
Roscommon's goal was, as Mickey Moran indicated, avoidable. Nigel Dineen sent in a high dropping ball to which wing forward Gary Cox managed to get a fist to touch wide of Tony Blake and in off the post for a goal in the 11th minute.
This was a sign for Roscommon to go on the rampage. Their tactics of moving the ball short at speed out of defence before letting it go long into the attack kept Donegal on the back foot. And when the visitors did engineer openings, their accuracy was poor. In contrast, Roscommon took their chances.
Five of the winners' eight first-half points came from frees as Dineen and Stephen Lohan showed unerring accuracy from the placed ball. Moran made exasperated reference to the balance of frees over the match in general and the proportion of Roscommon scores that came off those awards. It would have to be said that Donegal could have raised their own tally had they not kicked four frees wide during the first half.
In the absence of Brendan Devenney, Adrian Sweeney took over the key role in attack. Behind him, Michael Hegarty made some incisive runs but was overshadowed by Francie Grehan who acted as point man in many of Roscommon's slick breakouts.
However, Sweeney didn't get a great supply and had to wait until the 30th minute to get his and Donegal's second score. His crisply dispatched penalty re-awoke the visitors and helped them close the half 1-3 to 1-8 in arrears.
The second half was a lively contest. Despite the persistent rain and heavy surface both teams took some good scores. Each side lost a player to second yellow cards - Donegal centre back Barry Monaghan and Roscommon substitute Fergal Carroll - as the match ebbed and flowed.
Donegal started with four unanswered points, including a pair from under-21 Colm McFadden. With only a point between the teams, the match was on the edge but it turned on a few instances around the end of then third quarter.
Lohan's fortuitous goal was disheartening enough but it was followed by a great save from Derek Thompson to thwart Seamus Friel and a few minutes later, McFadden had the chance that Moran later lamented.
The match wound down with Roscommon always able to do enough to preserve their lead. There was jubilation when the word came through that Tyrone had lost top spot in the division.
As winners, Roscommon meet Cavan and will feel quietly confident.
ROSCOMMON: D Thompson; D Gavin, J Whyte, I Daly; M Raftery, F Grehan, P Noone; S O'Neill (0-1), D Casey; J Tiernan, S Lohan (1-5, goal and four points from frees), G Cox (1-1); N Dineen (0-5, 3fs), J Dunning (0-1), J Hanley. Subs: F O'Donnell for Casey (44 mins), J Egan for Tiernan (45 mins), F Carroll for Whyte (50 mins), D Connellan for O'Neill (58), G Lohan for S Lohan (71).
DONEGAL: T Blake; D Diver (0-1), M Crossan, N McGinley; R Sweeney, B Monaghan, K Cassidy; J Gildea, K Rafferty (0-1); J Haron, M Hegarty (0-1), C Toye; C McFadden (0-3), A Sweeney (1-5, 1-0 pen, 3fs), S Friel. Subs: P McGonigle for Toye (45 mins), B McLaughlin (0-1, f) for Friel (48 mins), P Campbell for Rafferty (54 mins), B Boyle for Cassidy (65 mins).
Referee: M Monahan (Kildare).
