Cork edge spirited Roscommon and progress after nail-biting encounter
PHYSICAL: Brian Stack of Roscommon and Colm O'Callaghan of Cork come together during a tense encounter at O'Moore Park Photo by Daire Brennan/Sportsfile
Thirty-three seconds had passed since the hooter. Roscommon traveled back and forth along the arc. Who would be brave enough to shoot? A two-point deficit in front of them. A successful kick would extend their summer. They needed only a draw. Only victory would do for their opponents.
Diarmuid Murtagh took on the responsibility and the kick. Daniel O'Mahony got a hand. The breaking ball fell to sub Seán Powter. Rugby-eseque, he charged over to the stand sideline and booted the ball into Row Z. John Cleary turned to the same stand and raised his fist. Cork’s season lives on for another week.
They hung on. One point in the closing 15 minutes, that a superb individual score from sub Cathail O’Mahony less than three minutes from the hooter.
Roscommon had kicked the game’s four previous scores. They’d also kicked four wides in this period. They’d also seen a Daire Cregg goal drive repelled by Micheál Aodh Martin. Seán Brady’s diving intervention prevented sub Ciarán Lennon finishing the rebound.
Enda Smith had sought Roscommon’s first orange flag just over a minute out from the end. Martin punched the ball out for a ‘45. Davy Burke’s side, cognisant of the clock and their requirements, went short from the ‘45 to engineer the orange flag that never materialised.
A run of three championship defeats put behind John Cleary’s side. A first championship win in 10 weeks. A first championship win over a county with a higher League ranking since June 1 of last year. A third All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final appearance of Cleary’s three-year reign.
The lead established in the third quarter saw them to the finish line. The second half and Roscommon took off at a frenetic pace. The middle third was bypassed and non-existent. Eight scores in nine minutes. Up and down, no breath taken.
Ben O’Carroll and Eddie Nolan halved Cork’s four-point interval lead around the 44-minute mark. Cork’s response was four-in-a-row. Cork’s most influential personnel were all to the fore here.
Colm O’Callaghan kicked a pair to match the first-half pair of his midfield teammate Ian Maguire. O’Callaghan then assisted for Seán McDonnell, who finished with three from play. Mark Cronin won frees, converted frees, and also found time and space to throw over three from play.
Brady, O’Driscoll, and company forced pressure-lifting turnovers further back. Eoghan McSweeney, the same as O’Mahony, came off the bench and pointed. It took every hand.
Roscommon won the first two Cork kickouts. Enda Smith broke the first to a teammate. Dylan Ruane broke the second to Daire Cregg. Both kickout wins ended in Roscommon points.
A worrying start for Micheál Aodh Martin and his restart targets. Three minutes gone and one of Cork’s most troublesome departments already under pressure.
Roscommon would not raise another flag off the Cork restart for the remainder of the half. Cork, by the 11th minute, had bettered that 0-2 total off the opposition restart. Conor Carroll kicked straight to Paul Walsh. A quick offload to Brian O’Driscoll. Another O’Driscoll two-pointer. A later Carroll restart went straight over the terrace sideline. Taylor executed the over-the-top kick to Seán McDonnell. Point Cork. Cork in front. 0-3 to 0-2.
Such was the greasy surface, turnovers were a common feature on both sides. A Ben O’Carroll slip on 13 minutes precipitated a length-of-the-field Seán Brady carry, a foul on Mark Cronin, and a conversion by the latter.
Brian O’Driscoll, deep in Roscommon territory, lost his footing, slipped, and overcarried. That play finished with Ciaráin Murtagh pointing at the far end.
Mark Cronin’s opener from play brought Cork level on 24 minutes. 0-6 apiece. It was the fourth time the sides were deadlocked. It was the first of five unanswered Cork points.
Two of the five belonged to Ian Maguire. On both occasions, the Cork midfielder flashed over when there was the definite potential for green.
Roscommon were wasteful too. The more wasteful, arguably. Seán McDonnell’s contribution to the five-in-a-row was to punish with a point Ciaráin Murtagh's attempt failing to go the distance at the other end.
Roscommon finished the half scoreless since the 22nd minute, with two short, three wides, and a four-point deficit to chase. And as that half progressed, not only did the deficit facing them grow, so too did the ease at which Cork sliced through their cover.
On March 1, Roscommon came to Leeside and won by 14 points. In the three and a half months since, the only win they've recorded was over London. Their year is done.
M Cronin (0-5, 0-2 frees); S McDonnell (0-3); B O’Driscoll (tp), Maguire, C O’Callaghan, P Walsh (0-2 each); B Hurley, C O’Mahony, E McSweeney (0-1 each).
D Cregg (0-5); D Murtagh, C McKeon (0-2 each); C Carroll (0-1 ‘45), S Lambe, E Nolan, D Ruane, E Smith, C Murtagh, B O’Carroll, D Smith (0-1 each).
MA Martin; S Meehan, S Brady, D O’Mahony; B O’Driscoll, M Shanley, M Taylor; I Maguire, C O’Callaghan; P Walsh, S Walsh, S McDonnell; B Hurley, C Óg Jones, M Cronin.
R Maguire for Meehan (HT); E McSweeney for S Walsh (42); S Powter for P Walsh (56); R Deane for Taylor (58); C O’Mahony for Jones (61).
C Carroll; D Murray, P Frost, B Stack; R Daly, S Cunnane, S Lambe; E Nolan, E Smith; D Ruane, D Smith, D Cregg; D Murtagh, B O’Carroll, C Murtagh.
K Doyle for Nolan (42-44 temporary); C Neary for D Smith (49); C McKeon for Ruane (52); C Hand for Daly (53); C Lennon for B O’Carroll (55); D Kenny for Lambe (65).
M McNally (Monaghan).
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