Derry 2-19 Roscommon 1-9
Monaghan 1-14 Mayo 2-13
ROSCOMMON WERE RELEGATED to Division 2 of the Allianz Football League on Sunday afternoon as table-topping Derry racked up a comfortable 13-point win at Celtic Park.
Davy Burke’s visitors knew that a win, coupled with a Kerry win over Galway, would be enough to ensure their survival.
And although Kerry upheld their part of the bargain, Roscommon were blown away by a free-scoring Derry in the second half.
Declan Cassidy thumped Derry into an early 1-2 to 0-1 lead when he collected Conleth McGuckian’s pass and fired the game’s opening goal in the ninth minute.
But the Rossies were back on terms almost instantly as Derry goalkeeper Odhran Lynch misjudged the flight of a bouncing ball, allowing Donie Smith to palm it into an empty net.
Daire Cregg’s free on 22 minutes edged Roscommon in front 1-5 to 1-4, but Mickey Harte’s side reeled off four unanswered scores to finish the half and head in 1-8 to 1-5 up at the break.
Roscommon did fight their way back on level terms in the opening minutes of the second half, two points from Diarmuid Murtagh coming either side of a fine score from Enda Smith, 1-8 to 1-8.
With just under a half-hour left in their season, Roscommon’s fate was very much in their own hands, but they were held to just a single Conor Cox point for the remainder while Derry moved through the gears to cement their place at the top of the table.
The game had already slipped out of Roscommon’s reach when Lachlan Murray’s cut and finish on 62 minutes gave Derry their second goal, 2-15 to 1-8, as the Oak Leaf began to look forward to a league final showdown with Dublin next weekend.
Meanwhile, in what was effectively a dead rubber in Clones, Matthew Ruane’s goal six minutes from time helped Mayo to a narrow win over already-relegated Monaghan, 2-13 to 1-14.
Heavy defeats for Dublin and Kerry could have seen Mayo leapfrog both and sneak into the Division 1 final with a handsome win, and while those unlikely circumstances didn’t materialise, Kevin McStay’s side finish the campaign in fourth place.
Monaghan — who lost Andrew Woods to a red card on 23 minutes — led by the minimum at the break, 0-8 to 1-4, with Mayo’s goal arriving through Darren McHale on 10 minutes.
Micheál Bannigan’s fourth point of the afternoon extended that lead to 0-12 to 1-6 in the 52nd minute, but Mayo fought their way back to a draw game, before substitute Kevin Loughran’s goal looked to have tilted a fine balance in Monaghan’s favour.
The next score was always likely to be a critical one and it came through Ruane, who scored Mayo ‘s second goal on 64 minutes, before a Ryan O’Donoghue free and a point from Padraig O’Hora closed out the win.
