Poor fare as Roscommon claim league points at Offaly's expense

Des Newton's Roscommon picked up their second brace of points following their trip to O'Connor Park, Tullamore, last Sunday afternoon at the expense of an Offaly squad who, having lost heavily to Longford a week earlier, suffered another setback on their own ground. Having enjoyed a three-point win over Tipperary at Kiltoom the previous Sunday, the Primrose and Blue outfit, still minus the St Brigid's brigade, are where they want to be, sharing joint leadership with unbeaten Antrim and Longford. This latest win, however, could have come at a cost to the Rossies, as a trio of injuries forced the premature retirals of Enda Kenny (7th minute), David O'Gara (14th minute, hamstring) and Dolan Shine (39th minute, apparent knee injury). This triple whammy, amazingly, resulted from off-the-ball incidents and in the same section of the field, just opposite the new dressing rooms on the hospital side. Despite those enforced losses, shrewd substitutions had the desired effect as Colin Compton, Brian Murtagh and the excellent Matt Scally between them shot five points from play in ensuing exchanges, almost half their team's final tally. Notwithstanding the fact that never more than three points separated the protagonists on a dry day at splendidly appointed O'Connor Park, the estimated 900 or so crowd witnessed a disappointingly poor game of football. The slump in fortunes, in recent games of Offaly is truly astonishing and while recognising the absence of some regular starters, notably the talismanic Niall McNamee, from their line-up, the task facing new team manager Gerry Cooney and his fellow selectors, on the basis of their opening two league games is of seismic proportions. Roscommon, it must be said, fared little better in many aspects of Sunday's display. The ball was turned over on too many occasions, wrong options were taken, meaningful moves were the exception rather than the norm and, as was the case with the home team, marksmanship left a lot to be desired. Possession was too often frittered away but the visitors certainly used their bench, albeit of necessity, to greater benefit on the occasion and, in the process, achieved their desired objective. Both teams failed to inspire confidence for future progress on the basis of what was served up on the O'Connor Park stage. For Roscommon, there were individual cameos which signalled encouragement. In defence, Sean McDermott again turned in his trademark show of dependability in a sector where the half-back trio of Sean Purcell, Niall Daly (in particular), and Ciaran Cafferky proved an unyielding bulwark of resistance, holding their respective opponents scoreless throughout. At midfield, Michael Finneran worked tirelessly to give his side the edge in this sector, with good support on occasions from Kevin Higgins, though the latter landed a few untypical wides. Up front, Conor Devaney was their only starting forward to score from play and 13 wides over the hour tell their own story. But the attack was boosted by the introduction of Colin Compton, Brian Murtagh and Clann na nGael's Matt Scally, all three staking strong claims for berths when Roscommon's league campaign resumes on March 4, away to high flying Longford. On the plus side, Roscommon will be pleased to have taken the points on offer, never an easy task at Tullamore in any given situation, but those injuries will cause worries. Following that 13 point mauling away to Longford, it was disappointing for Offaly not to have taken something with a hoped-for show of renaissance on their own ground. There were signs, early on, that such would be the case. Tubber's Bernard Allen at corner-forward was beating his opponent Stephen Ormsby to early ball, winning clear possession of the first four that came his way, and sending over two terrific points in the process. He continued to work assiduously in the opening half, adding a third point from play, but he lacked the necessary support to inflict more damage on opponents who switched Sean McDermott onto him, thereby consequently limiting his effectiveness. Anton Sullivan's spotkick conversion was splendidly executed, but in a sector where William Mulhall was a late call-up for Ferbane's Aidan Keenaghan at centre-forward, too many chances were wasted by some downright careless shooting, coupled with cheaply conceded possession. In defence, goalie Kevin Meehan kept his citadel intact while Sean Pender was easily the pick of a rearguard where Shane Sullivan and Brian Darby also came to the fore on occasions. The midfield pairing of Brian Hanamy are Niall Smith were only seen to effect sporadically over the hour but, in an overall context, a huge improvement all round is needed to avoid the dreaded spectre of relegation. The game was only 47 seconds old when a pinpoint Donal Shine pass picked out Conor Devaney to give Roscommon the lead. With wind not a factor, Offaly promptly responded with a splendid brace from Bernard Allen. Wing-back Sean Purcell pointed for Roscommon on the run but Offaly skipper and fellow wing-back Brian Darby reciprocated with a like score on eight minutes. Those lively early exchanges gave promise of better things but matters went downhill subsequently. The Faithful County would not raise another flag for a full 21 minutes. Roscommon suffered two of their injury defections but, while by no means setting the world on fire, added three points - per Conor Devaney (2) and sub Brian Murtagh - to go ahead. Alan Mulhall (free) and Bernard Allen equalised for Offaly, but sub Ken Casey fluffed a gilt-edged chance of an Offaly goal (30th minute). Half-time score: 0-5 each. Roscommon received a further scare when Donal Shine went down injured, replaced by the subsequently 'on fire' Matt Scally. Points were exchanged by Ciaran Cafferky and Alan Mulhall (free) but Matt Scally, Conor Devaney and Colin Compton put Roscommon ahead before Anton Sullivan forced a penalty (50th minute), which he clinically put away to level the match. The home team, however would not score again in this league tie with a trio of Roscommon points - Ger Heneghan (free), Scally and Murtagh - eventually proving sufficient to take the points as the game stumbled to a halt. Roscommon: Geoffrey Claffey (capt.), Sean McDermott, Neil Collins, Stephen Ormsby, Sean Purcell (0-1), Niall Daly, Ciaran Cafferky (0-1), Michael Finneran, Kevin Higgins, David O'Gara, Donal Shine, David Keenan, Conor Devaney (0-4), Enda Kenny, Ger Heneghan (0-1f). Subs: Colin Compton (0-1) for Kenny (inj., 7), Brian Murtagh (0-2) for O'Gara (inj., 14), Matt Scally (0-2) for Shine (inj., 39). Offaly: Kevin Meehan, James Gallagher, Shane Sullivan, Sean Pender, Paul McConway, John Moloney, Brian Darby (capt., 0-1), Brian Hanamy, Niall Smith, Derek Kelly, William Mulhall, Graham Guilfoyle, Bernard Allen (0-3), Alan Mulhall (0-2, 2f), Anton Sullivan (1-0pen). Subs: Ken Casey for McConway (inj., 29), Ross Brady for A Mulhall (47), Stephen Guing for Hanamy (61), Daniel Currams for W Mulhall (68), Ger Treacy for Guilfoyle (72). Referee: Vincent Neary (Mayo).