Kevin Egan reports from King & Moffatt Dr Hyde Park
IT MIGHT SEEM overly simplistic to say that romance ran out of road when confronted with the cold hard reality of Tyrone’s hard-wired big game know-how, and to simplify this afternoon’s contest as harshly as that would be to do a disservice to the mercurial finishes that Eoin McElholm and Ronan Cassidy delivered for their first-half goals, the old-fashioned watertight defending of Joey Clarke and Cormac Quinn, or the imposing presence of Niall Morgan in goal.
But then, it’s not wrong to describe it as that either.
From start to finish, this was a battle between Roscommon’s flair and commitment to all-out attack, up against a Tyrone side that methodically and thoughtfully picked and prodded their way through the minefield to try and suck the life out of their flamboyant opponents, and the passionate crowd of over 16,000 people, the vast majority of whom sported the home colours.
No phase of play summed this up better than the five-minute spell that incorporated both second-half goals, one for each team.
That crowd had just erupted when Enda Smith fielded a long ball in behind Peter Teague, run through and goal and slotted the ball into the bottom right corner to give the Rossies their first lead since the 16th minute.
Ronan Daly set up Diarmuid Murtagh for a score to make it 2-15 to 2-13, and the Hyde was bouncing. Tyrone hadn’t scored in over 15 minutes themselves, they had only posted two points in the second half overall, and a low percentage shot from Michael McKernan got within a couple of yards of the left-hand post, but sailed wide left.
Tyrone were on the rack, and the ravenous crowd was savouring every turn of the wheel, every extra centimetre that the Red Hand men were being stretched.
Up to that point, Conor Carroll had been right in the mix for man-of-the-match honours. At one stage Roscommon retained 12 kickouts in a row, and in general he did a wonderful job of taking Tyrone’s behemoth midfield of Brian Kennedy and Conn Kilpatrick out of the game, at least on that phase of play.
But with the crowd whistling for a free for delaying the kick out, he rushed an attempted short restart, chipping it straight to Frank Burns instead of hitting his intended target.
Two passes later, Mattie Donnelly was in front of goal picking out the corner of the net, and once again, the game was Tyrone’s to control.
And control it they did. They held the ball for long stretches, restricting Roscommon to hit-and-hope kicks from distance.
Paul Carey skied one of them but landed another to level the game with 68:30 on the clock, and now Tyrone were in their own unique flow state. A typically precise Niall Morgan restart was the platform for another attack where they methodically worked the ball up the pitch, culminating in an Eoin McElholm possession 30 metres out.
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The Loughmacrory attacker was in scintillating form all afternoon and, in desperation, Senan Lambe dragged him down, leaving Ethan Jordan to fire over the lead score with 35 seconds left.
ETHAN JORDAN STEALS THE HEADLINES 🔥 He holds his nerve to kick the winning score as Tyrone edge Roscommon in Round 1 of the All-Ireland SFC series!
This time Roscommon had to go long and Tyrone won the contest, ensuring they held on for a win that has the potential to completely change the course of the season for last year’s All-Ireland semi-finalists.
Even in the first quarter when the game was competitive, there was a sense that the contest was being played on Tyrone’s terms. Peter Teague and Jordan kicked excellent early points, only for the contest to be set alight when Darragh Heneghan decided to pick up where he left off against Galway. Picking up possession on the 45m line, Tyrone backed off, and he didn’t need a second invitation as he picked up the pace and seared down the middle before hammering the ball into the roof of the net.
Tyrone were unperturbed and levelled through Kilpatrick, Roscommon kept nudging back in front, but there was a pattern: Tyrone would hold the ball and meticulously work the ball into high percentage positions, Roscommon looked for one of their mercurial forwards to make something happen.
Conor Carroll’s kick-outs gave them a good platform and that threat was omnipresent, but Tyrone had their stars too. Seánie O’Donnell, Brian Kennedy and Ciarán Daly were relentless in the midfield battleground, Eoin McElholm and Mattie Donnelly scored superb individual goals, and just before half-time it felt like a crucial swing moment when Daire Cregg coughed up possession and Tyrone ruthlessly used the turnover to set up Ethan Jordan for their only two pointer, making it 2-11 to 1-9 at the break.
Matthew Donnelly of Tyrone tackles Caelim Keogh of Roscommon. James Lawlor / INPHO
James Lawlor / INPHO / INPHO
It would be a stretch to say that Roscommon dominated the next 20 minutes, or even that they ever looked as sharp or as dangerous as they had against Mayo and Galway, but their defence tightened up and closed down all the holes that Tyrone exploited in the first half, they continued to use their own kick out very well, and the introduction of Conor Hand was the perfect fillip to bring them within striking distance.
And strike they did – except the Tyrone empire struck back. Now the Rossies find themselves in shark-infested waters with no more safety net, while Tyrone suddenly look like contenders all over again.
Scorers for Roscommon: Diarmuid Murtagh 0-8 (1 2pt play, 0-4f), Enda Smith 1-1, Darragh Heneghan 1-0, Daire Cregg 0-2, Conor Hand 0-2, Conor Carroll 0-2 (1 2pt free), Paul Carey 0-2 (1 2pt play), Dylan Ruane 0-1.
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Last-gasp free sees Tyrone edge Roscommon in All-Ireland SFC opener
Roscommon 2-18 (2-3-12)
Tyrone 2-16 (3-1-14)
Kevin Egan reports from King & Moffatt Dr Hyde Park
IT MIGHT SEEM overly simplistic to say that romance ran out of road when confronted with the cold hard reality of Tyrone’s hard-wired big game know-how, and to simplify this afternoon’s contest as harshly as that would be to do a disservice to the mercurial finishes that Eoin McElholm and Ronan Cassidy delivered for their first-half goals, the old-fashioned watertight defending of Joey Clarke and Cormac Quinn, or the imposing presence of Niall Morgan in goal.
But then, it’s not wrong to describe it as that either.
From start to finish, this was a battle between Roscommon’s flair and commitment to all-out attack, up against a Tyrone side that methodically and thoughtfully picked and prodded their way through the minefield to try and suck the life out of their flamboyant opponents, and the passionate crowd of over 16,000 people, the vast majority of whom sported the home colours.
No phase of play summed this up better than the five-minute spell that incorporated both second-half goals, one for each team.
That crowd had just erupted when Enda Smith fielded a long ball in behind Peter Teague, run through and goal and slotted the ball into the bottom right corner to give the Rossies their first lead since the 16th minute.
Ronan Daly set up Diarmuid Murtagh for a score to make it 2-15 to 2-13, and the Hyde was bouncing. Tyrone hadn’t scored in over 15 minutes themselves, they had only posted two points in the second half overall, and a low percentage shot from Michael McKernan got within a couple of yards of the left-hand post, but sailed wide left.
Tyrone were on the rack, and the ravenous crowd was savouring every turn of the wheel, every extra centimetre that the Red Hand men were being stretched.
Up to that point, Conor Carroll had been right in the mix for man-of-the-match honours. At one stage Roscommon retained 12 kickouts in a row, and in general he did a wonderful job of taking Tyrone’s behemoth midfield of Brian Kennedy and Conn Kilpatrick out of the game, at least on that phase of play.
But with the crowd whistling for a free for delaying the kick out, he rushed an attempted short restart, chipping it straight to Frank Burns instead of hitting his intended target.
Two passes later, Mattie Donnelly was in front of goal picking out the corner of the net, and once again, the game was Tyrone’s to control.
And control it they did. They held the ball for long stretches, restricting Roscommon to hit-and-hope kicks from distance.
Paul Carey skied one of them but landed another to level the game with 68:30 on the clock, and now Tyrone were in their own unique flow state. A typically precise Niall Morgan restart was the platform for another attack where they methodically worked the ball up the pitch, culminating in an Eoin McElholm possession 30 metres out.
The Loughmacrory attacker was in scintillating form all afternoon and, in desperation, Senan Lambe dragged him down, leaving Ethan Jordan to fire over the lead score with 35 seconds left.
This time Roscommon had to go long and Tyrone won the contest, ensuring they held on for a win that has the potential to completely change the course of the season for last year’s All-Ireland semi-finalists.
Even in the first quarter when the game was competitive, there was a sense that the contest was being played on Tyrone’s terms. Peter Teague and Jordan kicked excellent early points, only for the contest to be set alight when Darragh Heneghan decided to pick up where he left off against Galway. Picking up possession on the 45m line, Tyrone backed off, and he didn’t need a second invitation as he picked up the pace and seared down the middle before hammering the ball into the roof of the net.
Tyrone were unperturbed and levelled through Kilpatrick, Roscommon kept nudging back in front, but there was a pattern: Tyrone would hold the ball and meticulously work the ball into high percentage positions, Roscommon looked for one of their mercurial forwards to make something happen.
Conor Carroll’s kick-outs gave them a good platform and that threat was omnipresent, but Tyrone had their stars too. Seánie O’Donnell, Brian Kennedy and Ciarán Daly were relentless in the midfield battleground, Eoin McElholm and Mattie Donnelly scored superb individual goals, and just before half-time it felt like a crucial swing moment when Daire Cregg coughed up possession and Tyrone ruthlessly used the turnover to set up Ethan Jordan for their only two pointer, making it 2-11 to 1-9 at the break.
It would be a stretch to say that Roscommon dominated the next 20 minutes, or even that they ever looked as sharp or as dangerous as they had against Mayo and Galway, but their defence tightened up and closed down all the holes that Tyrone exploited in the first half, they continued to use their own kick out very well, and the introduction of Conor Hand was the perfect fillip to bring them within striking distance.
And strike they did – except the Tyrone empire struck back. Now the Rossies find themselves in shark-infested waters with no more safety net, while Tyrone suddenly look like contenders all over again.
Scorers for Roscommon: Diarmuid Murtagh 0-8 (1 2pt play, 0-4f), Enda Smith 1-1, Darragh Heneghan 1-0, Daire Cregg 0-2, Conor Hand 0-2, Conor Carroll 0-2 (1 2pt free), Paul Carey 0-2 (1 2pt play), Dylan Ruane 0-1.
Scorers for Tyrone: Ethan Jordan 0-7 (1 2pt play, 0-2f, 0-1 45), Eoin McElholm 1-3, Mattie Donnelly 1-1, Ronan Cassidy 1-0, Peter Teague 0-1, Niall Devlin 0-1, Conn Kilpatrick 0-1, Ciarán Daly 0-1, Seánie O’Donnell 0-1.
Roscommon
1. Conor Carroll (St. Brigid’s)
12. Colm Neary (Strokestown), 3. Caelim Keogh (Pádraig Pearses), 4. Eoin McCormack (St. Dominic’s)
19. Ruaidhrí Fallon (St. Brigid’s), 6. Ronan Daly (Pádraig Pearses), 7. Senan Lambe (Roscommon Gaels)
8. Keith Doyle (St. Dominic’s), 9. Conor Ryan (Pádraig Pearses)
10. Dylan Ruane (Michael Glaveys), 11. Enda Smith (Boyle), 14. Darragh Heneghan (Michael Glaveys)
13. Diarmuid Murtagh (St. Faithleach’s), 23. Daire Cregg (Boyle),15. Robert Heneghan (Michael Glaveys)
Subs:
Tyrone
1. Niall Morgan (Edendork)
4. Joey Clarke (Donaghmore), 2. Cormac Quinn (Errigal Ciaráin), 6. Niall Devlin (Coalisland)
7. Kieran McGeary (Pomeroy Plunketts), 3. Peter Teague (Dromore), 5. Michael McKernan (Coalisland)
8. Brian Kennedy (Derrylaughan), 9. Conn Kilpatrick (Edendork)
12. Ciarán Daly (Trillick), 11. Ronan Cassidy (Donaghmore), 10. Seánie O’Donnell (Trillick)
26. Eoin McElholm (Loughmacrory), 14. Matthew Donnelly (Trillick), 15. Ethan Jordan (Eglish)
Subs:
Referee: David Gough (Meath).
*****
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