Enda Smith of Roscommon has a shot on goal blocked by Paddy McCarthy of Down during the Allianz Football League Division 2 match between Roscommon and Down at King & Moffatt Dr Hyde Park in Roscommon. Photo by Ben McShane/Sportsfile.
Allianz Football League Division 2
ROSCOMMON 3-21 (3-3-15) DOWN 1-20 (1-6-8)
Kevin Egan at King & Moffatt Dr. Hyde Park
If this weekend’s round of games was the first opportunity for players and supporters to sit a true test of the new world of gaelic football, then the honours exam, the Harvard admission test, took place in King & Moffatt Dr. Hyde Park.
The record books will show that Roscommon overcame Down in a truly chaotic, enthralling contest, the first competitive game played where the full power of the two-point arc was revealed.
It says it all about how both of these teams approached the game, and the strength of the breeze blowing towards the Town End goal, that Down held a five-point lead at half-time and it still felt like the contest was right in the balance. By that stage the Mourne men had 1-14 on the board, and when we consider that last year’s championship scoring average was 18.64 and that was the highest scoring on record in the history of gaelic football, for Conor Laverty’s side not to be in control of the game with a tally like that felt surreal.
Of course, in old rules, they would have had a much more humble 1-8. Six of the eight shots that sailed over Conor Carroll’s crossbar were from outside the arc, with Pat Havern putting his name on four of those. James Guinness and Ryan McEvoy added the other orange flags, with McEvoy also putting his name on a goal when he leapt highest to push Pat Havern’s partially blocked shot into the bottom corner of the net.
At the other end however, Roscommon looked potent too. Cian McKeon is one of a handful of key players that Davy Burke welcomed back into his panel for this 2025 campaign and he chipped in with 1-1, finishing his goal from close range after Shane Killoran’s shot wasn’t held.
There were no question marks about the other goal, finished to the net by Enda Smith after the former All-Star opened up the defence with a barnstorming run down the left touchline and then exchanged passes with Daire Cregg. That was the score that lit this game on fire, and the burning never stopped.
Both sides were awarded frees for breaches of the ‘three men up’ rule, Down were pinged for passing back to the goalkeeper in his own half, there was one 50-metre punishment for dissent, and for good measure there was a black card for each team (Peter Fegan and Ben O’Carroll) and a Roscommon penalty, taken by Smith and saved by John O’Hare.
With 15 minutes gone in the second half Paddy McCarthy picked off a point to make it 1-18 to 2-10, meaning that both sides had tacked on four points since half-time. That was the cue for Roscommon to open up however, and when they did get going, Down simply didn’t have the ability to cope with their range of attacking weapons. Ben O’Carroll and Donie Smith both came off the bench to kick points, but the score of the game and probably the score of the weekend from anywhere across Ireland came from Ciaráin Murtagh.
Colm Neary, a hugely promising minor who missed out on featuring in last year’s Roscommon U-20 Connacht championship win due to a cruciate ligament injury, made a wonderful block to set up the opportunity.
Cian McKeon’s immaculate 50 metre diagonal pass to Murtagh was every bit as good, but the jewel in the move was Murtagh’s finish, picking out the net from fully 50 metres away with John O’Hare out of his goal.
There was still time for more drama – Down elected to take O’Hare off and put wing forward Danny Magill back in goal, and he ended up making a superb save to deny Daire Creg what would have been Roscommon’s fourth goal. But facing into the wind and a rampant home side, Down were outgunned at this stage, gasping for air.
As was everyone in the crowd, barely able to comprehend the whole new world that had just been unveiled.
Scorers for Roscommon: Diarmuid Murtagh 0-7 (1 2pt, 0-3f), Ciaráin Murtagh 1-2 (1 2pt), Enda Smith 1-1, Cian McKeon 1-1, Daire Cregg 0-4 (0-2f), Shane Cunnane 0-2 (1 2pt), Shane Killoran 0-1, Eddie Nolan 0-1, Ben O’Carroll 0-1, Donie Smith 0-1.
Scorers for Down: Pat Havern 0-11 (3 2ptf, 1 2pt, 0-1f), Ryan McEvoy 1-2 (1 2pt), James Guinness 0-2 (1 2pt), Danny Magill 0-2, Odhrán Murdock 0-1, Gareth McKibben 0-1.
ROSCOMMON: Conor Carroll; Niall Higgins, Pearse Frost, Colm Neary; Brian Stack, Shane Cunnane, Tim Lambe; Eddie Nolan, Keith Doyle; Shane Killoran, Ultan Harney, Enda Smith; Diarmuid Murtagh, Cian McKeon, Daire Cregg.
Subs: Ciaráin Murtagh for Killoran (half-time), Senan Lambe for T Lambe (41), Ben O’Carroll for Harney (41), Dylan Ruane for Doyle (47), Donie Smith for Ruane (60, blood)
DOWN: John O’Hare; Peter Fegan, Pierce Laverty, Hugh Pat McGeary; Paddy McCarthy, Ryan McEvoy, Ceilum Doherty; Daniel Guinness, Ryan Magill; Eoin McCrickard, James Guinness, Danny Magill; Odhrán Murdock, Pat Havern, Gareth McKibben.
Subs: Micael Rooney for McGeary (26), Conor McCrickard for E McCrickard (60), Oisín Savage for O’Hare (66)
Referee: Niall Cullen (Fermanagh)
