Roscommon on edge of relegation

ROSCOMMON manager John Maughan will wonder what to do next after witnessing his side’s total collapse against an Armagh team that never got out of first gear.

This crushing defeat now leaves Roscommon on the verge of relegation, while Armagh will be delighted with the performance of several players, and the return of Oisin McConville will be seen as an important boost ahead of the championship.

The game hinged on four well taken goals, the first coming after just 10 minutes when Stephen McDonnell gave Jeffery Claffey no chance with a well taken shot, and this set Armagh on their way leading 1-9 to 0-5 at the break.

Roscommon to their credit tried hard in the first 35 minutes with Ger Heneghan, Senan Kilbride and Cathal Cregg coming to the fore. However, the second half started in explosive fashion with Armagh scoring four points in the space of eight minutes and with the introduction of McConville resulted in a well taken second goal for McDonnell.

From there Roscommon collapsed as Armagh added two goals and three points without reply, the third goal coming from Brian Mallon after Claffey saved McDonnell’s original effort and Stephen McDonnell rounded off a good afternoon with his third goal after Ronan Clarke’s original effort came off the crossbar.

Despite several changes on both sides the full time whistle came as a welcome relief to the 300 or so beleaguered Roscommon supporters who travelled up to see the game, and now leaves Roscommon with more questions than answers, with Dublin, Cavan and Westmeath still to come in the League.

Scorers Armagh: S McDonnell 3-7, B Mallon 1-0, R Clarke 0-3, T Kiernan 0-2, A Kiernan 0-2, O McConville 0-2, K McKeever, G Swift, S Kiernan, P Courtney 0-1 each.

Roscommon: J Heneghan 0-2, S Kilbride 0-2, G Cox 0-2, F Dolan, C Mannion 0-1 each.

ARMAGH: K McKenney, B Shannon, B Donaghy, F Moriarty, K McKeever, A O’Rourke, A Kiernan, K Toner, G Swift, S Kiernan, M O’Rourke, P Courtney, S McDonnell, R Clarke, T Kiernan. Subs. F Bellew for F Moriarty, O McConville for P Courtney, B Mallon for T Kiernan, D McKenna for K Toner, J Lavery for M O’Rourke.

ROSCOMMON: J Claffey, P O’Connor, A McDermott, S McDermott, D O’Gara, E Kenny, D Keenan, K Mannion, M O’Carroll, G Cox, F Dolan, C Cregg, G Heneghan, J Dunning, S Kilbride. Subs. A Murtagh for P O’Connor, M Finneran for J Dunning, D Flynn for A McDermott, C Devanney for C Cregg, P Donican for J Heneghan.

Referee: Pat Fox (Westmeath).