Roscommon 1-08 Clare 0-04
Roscommon did enough as they seen off Clare at a blustery Hyde Park on Sunday. The win now means they are back in the promotion hunt as Division 2 is wide open with Armagh going well. However, it was Roscommon who were rooted to the bottom of the table before throw in.
It was all Clare in terms of possession in the opening stages, however, they failed to make that tell on the scoreboard. In fact it was Roscommon who knocked over the first two scores. Stack knocking the first score, which was followed with a point from Cathal Cregg from 40 metres. It was 0-03 to 0-00 after 10 minutes when Hubert Darcy was fouled. The resulting free was put straight over the bar from Cian McKeon. In addition, Clare although had a couple of goal chances but it was Anthony Cunningham’s charges who knocked over scores from Ciaran Lennon, Cian McKeon and Cathal Cregg to go in at the break 0-06 to 0-00 ahead.
Eddie Nolan was introduced at the break and he brought some considerable strength to aid Enda Smith in midfield. Firstly, Cian McKeon registered his third point of the day from a free after 39 minutes. David Tubridy eventually got Clare on the scoreboard from a long range free but in truth it was all Roscommon. Clare scored three points in added time in the second half with Eoin Cleary, David Tubridy and Jack Morrissey all pointing. Furthermore, Enda Smith registered a neat point for the Rossies, before Noel Gatley came up with a green flag that finally all but ended the game as a contest.
Roscommon: Colm Lavin; David Murray, Brian Stack (0-01), Mark Richardson; Niall Daly, Conor Daly, Richard Hughes; Tadhg O’Rourke, Enda Smith (0-01); Niall Kilroy, Cian McKeon (0-03f), Hubert Darcy; Donie Smith, Ciarán Lennon (0-01), Cathal Cregg (0-02).
Subs: Noel Gately (1-00) for D. Smith 35, Eddie Nolan for O’Rourke h-t, Finbar Cregg for C Cregg 62, Conor Hussey for Hughes 69.
Clare: Stephen Ryan; Gordon Kelly, Cillian Brennan, Kevin Harnett;Dean Ryan, Pearse Lillis, Cian O’Dea; Ciaran Russell, Cathal O’Connor; Seán Collins,David Tubridy (0-02f),Dermot Coughlan; Gearoid O’Brien, Eoin Cleary (0-01f), Keelan Sexton.
Subs: Jack Morrissey (0-01) for O’Brien 49, Alan Sweeney for Ryan 55, Dale Masterson for O’Connor 61, Emmet McMahon for Sexton 65.
