Who dares wins: Rossies' risk succeeds, Galway gamble fails

Daire Cregg of Roscommon scores his side's second goal. Pic: Ben McShane/Sportsfile

Allianz FL Division 1: Roscommon 2-16 (2-2-12) Galway 0-21 (0-3-15)

The stakes and the setting change, but at its core, Gaelic football is a game of calculated gambles. Roscommon rolled the dice in Pearse Stadium on Saturday and ended up turning a 13-point second-half deficit into a one-point win.

Cha-ching!

In front of 6,043, Mark Dowd sent out his captain Diarmuid Murtagh to play against the breeze, should they win the toss. The team they lined out with was without the St Brigid’s contingent. This victory means they are buzzing with three successive wins and know they have a guaranteed punch coming into the side.

“We were probably conscious of Galway being strong in the second half,” said Roscommon boss Mark Dowd post-match of their toss call.

“We were trying to take any advantage we could off them as well. Today it worked out for us. If we lost, that could have come back and been said to us as the reason, but it worked out.”

Galway led 0-16 to 0-5 at the break, with Liam Ó Conghaile slotting two two-pointers and Matthew Tierney kicking one. A string of misses during that spell ultimately proved costly, though. They took 10 minutes to score.

They missed three two-point efforts and a goal chance for Fionn McDonagh. At the death, substitute Oisín MacDonnacha had a chance to punch over an equaliser, but went for goal and was denied by Aaron Brady.

“Disappointed to not at least get a draw there at the end,” said Pádraic Joyce. “The opposite of last week, we were 11 or 12 up there in the second half and then got caught. No one to blame only ourselves.

“The ball we gave away and the two goals we gave away, too many jumping for the ball for the first one in the middle of the field, the second one was ridiculous, giving the ball away at the back. Hats off to Roscommon. They came down with a plan, won the toss, and played against the wind.”

Was he content with MacDonnacha’s call to go for a winner? It’s complicated, but no, basically. In that wager, the percentage play was to settle for a draw. Chasing the full house instead leaves them staring at relegation trouble.

“We were standing dead on the small square, the easiest thing is to punch over the bar. Oisín knows that himself. The shot at the goal was straight at the goalkeeper’s belly. Either step inside and keep it low, or put it over the bar — but we did neither.”

Paul Conroy made his return to a thunderous ovation and was immediately booked for his part in a flare-up in centrefield. The spark that ignited Roscommon and kept them flickering in the wind and rain was Daire Cregg.

Both Jack Glynn and Johnny McGrath had a crack off him. The two-footed finisher still notched 1-7. 

He scored three first-half points. His free, which he also earned, ignited the comeback. A sweeping move that stemmed from Conor Ryan’s towering catch and Enda Smith’s break resulted in the opening goal and had the home crowd nervous with 20 minutes remaining. They were right to be.

Murtagh and Diarmaid Ruane found their range from outside the arc. A ferocious squeeze forced Glynn to boot the ball away from his own goal and Roscommon broke at speed, Smith feeding Cregg to put them ahead.

Seán Kelly scored at the other end, but Ciarán Lennon’s late point proved to be the winner. Roscommon can now welcome Dublin to town with the added benefit that their St Brigid’s stars have had a sufficient pre-season.

“You can’t expect guys that are coming off a tough campaign like they’ve been in to drop straight back into inter-county football,” said Dowd. “It wouldn’t be fair on them.

“Once they were happy, we were happy. They’ll see it [games]. Over the next couple of weeks, you’ll be hoping to see a few of them on the pitch.”

A reality that makes them a fascinating outfit to watch as the season goes on. A bright start, and they can get better.

Scorers for Galway: L Ó Conghaile 0-6 (2 tp); R Finnerty 0-4; S Kelly 0-3; M Tierney 0-3 (1tp); S McGrath, J Maher 0-2 each; D McHugh 0-1.

Scorers for Roscommon: D Cregg 1-7 (2 f); D Murtagh 0-5 (1 tp, 1f); E Smith 1-0; D Ruane 0-2 (tp); C Lennon, A Brady (45) 0-1 each.

GALWAY: E McGrath; J McGrath, S Fitzgerald, J Glynn; D McHugh, C Hernon, S Kelly; J Maher, M Tierney; S McGrath, R Roche, C D’Arcy; R Finnerty, F McDonagh, L Ó Conghaile.

Subs: D O’Flaherty for Roche (25); C Power for McDonagh (46); K Molloy for Hernon (54); P Conroy for D’Arcy (58); O Mac Donnacha for Ó Conghaile (60).

ROSCOMMON: A Brady; P Gavin, C Keogh, N Higgins; E Ward, R Daly, S Lambe; K Doyle, C Ryan; D Ruane, E Smith, D Heneghan; D Murtagh, D Cregg, R Heneghan.

Subs: P Carey for Heneghan (2 – Inj); E Colleran for Heneghan, C Neary for Doyle (both 45); C Lennon for Carey (53); J Duggan for Ryan (58).

Referee: D Coldrick (Meath).