Tipp on top as Roscommon minors' dream ends
by Adrian Cusack Updated: Wednesday, 24th August, 2011 5:30pm
Roscommon 0-12 Tipperary 1-11
Roscommon's dream of repeating the All-Ireland minor triumph of 2006 came to an end at Croke Park on Sunday last, as Ross Shannon's charges were beaten by a sharp and economical Tipperary outfit.
The Roscommon players produced a stunning comeback in extra time to defeat Armagh at the quarter final stage, and for a fleeting moment it looked as if they just might pull off something similar here.
Michael Quinlivan's goal, which extended Tipperary's lead to seven points shortly after the interval, would have shattered the resistance of a lesser team. But Roscommon dug deep and came storming back.
When Tipp's influential midfielder Ian Fahey received a second yellow card ten minutes from time, and the excellent Donie Smith then narrowed the deficit to two with six minutes left, hope was again stirred up among the large Roscommon support.
Ultimately it wasn't to be, and it would be unfair to conclude that this was anything other than a deserved win for a Tipperary team that is shaking off the 'novelty' tag which initially greeted its presence at the business end of an All-Ireland football championship.
Two representatives of the Padraig Pearses club, corner back Shane Carty and half-back Conor Daly, lined out for Roscommon and both made several good contributions, with Daly particularly effective when going on the attack in the second half.
The cloudy yet dry conditions were perfect for this one.
Although both sets of supporters were wearing blue and gold, the volume of the roar which greeted Roscommon's arrival onto the pitch left no question mark over which county had brought the greater numbers.
Roscommon started slowly in preceding championship outings against Mayo, Galway, and Armagh, and they were second best in the early exchanges on this occasion also. A point from TJ Ryan and two from Ian Fahey put Tipp in the driving seat with just four minutes on the clock.
Corner forward Donie Smith proved a real handful for the Tipperary backline throughout, and he opened Roscommon's account with a free after five minutes. Ian Fahey received his marching orders in the second half but he ran the show for Tipperary in the early stages, deflecting the attention of three Roscommon defenders to fistpass over for his third point of the game.
At the other end Roscommon countered when Shane Jordan linked up with Liam Conlon and the latter landed a kick straight between the posts. A fine score which made it four points to two. Colin O'Riordan then extended Tipperary's lead before Roscommon engineered the game's first goal chance. Enda Smith played it into full forward Kevin Finn, but Tipp 'keeper Enda Comerford was out to block the shot with his legs and the opportunity passed.
A feature of the first half was Tipperary's efficiency: Roscommon had to fight for every score, but the Munster side was playing 'route one' football and getting points on the board with a minimum of fuss.
Two more, from Michael Quinlivan and Stephen O'Brien, opened up a five point lead with just over a quarter of the game gone.
After 25 minutes Shane Carty fielded well and started a Roscommon attack which which ended with Kevin Finn having another shot at goal.
This time the effort was blocked by Dylan Fitzelle and went out for a 45. Tom Corcoran dispatched the kick, which this was followed by Roscommon's best point of the half - a 40-yard whopper from Enda Smith. On the stroke of half time Tipperary's centre half back Colin O'Riordan chipped in with his second point of the game to make it eight points to four at the interval. If Roscommon were to book a place in the All Ireland decider a good start to the second half was crucial. Yet it was Tipperary who got off to a flier. Just a minute into the half Ian Fahey picked out Quinlivan, who expertly slotted the ball into the corner of the net.
It was hard not to feel that it was 'game over' at that stage; a sense that was not disspelled when Corcoran kicked an, admittedly difficult, free kick wide on 38 minutes. But a comeback commenced on 41 minutes when Conor Daly squeezed the ball off a post and over the bar.
Points from Fintan Kelly, Liam Conlon and Smith added to the Roscommon resurgence, interrupted only by Greg Henry point for Tipperary. Captain Liam McGrath made it 1-10 to 0-8 for Tipp before Fahey was sent to the dressing room for an off-the-ball incident with ten minutes to go.
A point from Daly and two from Smith left only two points between the sides as the final whistle approached.
Colman Kennedy stepped up to steady Tipperary's nerves with a point under pressure. Roscommon now needed a goal. Smith floated a ball into the danger zone in search of one, but Tipp goalie Comerford caught and cleared it.
Roscommon sub Michael Gunning got on the scoreboard in injury time but a point wasn't enough and the final whistle sounded shortly afterwards.
Scorers: Tipperary: M Quinlivan 1-1, I Fahey 0-3 (1f), C O'Riordan 0-2, S O'Brien, G Henry, L McGrath, TJ Ryan and C Kennedy 0-1 each. Roscommon: D Smith 0-4 (2f), C Daly, L Conlon 0-2 each, F Kelly, E Smith, M Gunning, T Corcoran ('45') 0-1 each.
Tipperary: Evan Comerford; Niall O'Sullivan, John Meagher, Conor O'Sullivan, Colin O'Riordan, Dylan Fitzelle, Seamus Kennedy, Stephen O'Brien, Ian Fahey, Greg Henry, Philip Quirke, Bill Maher, Liam McGrath (capt), Michael Quinlivan, TJ Ryan. Subs: John McGrath for Quirke (38), Adrian McGuire for Fitzelle (45), Jason Lonergan for Henry (53), Colman Kennedy for Ryan (55), Tom Kirwan for O'Brien (63).
Roscommon: Colm Lavin, David Murray, Ross Timothy, Shane Carthy, Maurice Connaughton, John McManus (capt), Conor Daly, Fintan Kelly, Tom Corcoran, Liam Conlon, Mark Healy, Enda Smith, Donie Smith, Kevin Finn, Shane Jordan. Subs: Fintan Sweeney for Jordan (38), David Brandon for Kelly (52), Michael Gunning for Finn (63).
Ref: D Brazil (Offaly).
