Tyrone power proves too much or resilient Roscommon minors

The scoreboard, at the conclusion of this captivating All-Ireland MFC quarter-final played at Pearse Park, Longford, on Saturday evening last, blandly proclaimed a seven-point victory for Ulster kingpins Tyrone over Connacht finalists, Roscommon. But it does scant justice to the outstanding contribution of a gallant Primrose and Blue outfit who, apart from the final ten minutes of play when the Red Hand brigade sent over five unanswered points, were in pole position to continue what has been another football odyssey in this grade for 2008. This was a Roscommon display brimful of heart, courage, skill, resilience and determination reminiscent of that which ousted Galway in the recent Connacht semi-final at Tuam, and bodes very well for the future of football in the county. Before an estimated 2,000 spectators at dry, but blustery, Pearse Park Gary Wynne"s charges entered this quarter-final on the back of a provincial decider where first-half profligacy in front of goals, to a large degree, cost them a possible title. For their part, Tyrone, when retaining the Ulster crown, displayed many of the attributes which brought them three All-Irelands in the past decade (1998, 2001 and 2004). Powered by team captain Ryan Pickering, Gavin Teague, Niall McKenna, and Ciaran Girvan of the recent St. Patrick"s Academy, Dungannon team, who took Hogan Cup (All-Ireland Colleges) honours, pre-match punditry mainly favoured the Raymond Monroe managed northerners. With the opening quarter-final game at the beautifully manicured venue going to extra-time (won by Mayo against Monaghan by 1-12 to 0-9), it was a half-hour behind the scheduled start when referee Paul Kneel got proceedings underway. Coalisland"s Paddy McNeice proved an early tormentor-in-chief in the full-forward berth - he pointed within one minute of the start from play and, almost, immediately, punished a foul on midfielder Sean Warnock when converting the resultant free. But, in a superlative riposte, a massive ball from midfielder Cathal Shine was fielded by Darren McDermott, and the Éire Óg starlet had only one thing on his mind when rocketing a beauty to the net past a helpless Tim Harney, Tyrone"s goalkeeper. This gave a huge boost to Roscommon, who went on to produce a direct style of route one play with high ball into their dangerous full-forward trio. This tactic paid rich dividends minutes later, St. Ciaran"s Niall Kilroy leaving his marker for dead when securing another high centre and lofting over a glorious score. Still, the Ros" renaissance continued with great work being done by wing-forward Bernard Carthy prior to another fabulous point by team captain and midfielder Eugene Stritch. This was indeed vintage Roscommon which gave their big support plenty of confidence - the vision and anticipation shown by midfielder and Clann na nGael clubman Cathal Shine was giving his side the edge around the middle of the park, and with the inside forward line giving their opponents a collectively torrid time, the portents were encouraging for another rip-roaring Roscommon success. However, and as he did in the Ulster final, Ardboe star Kyle Coney (bound for Aussie Rules) led the Tyrone fightback. In arrears by 1-2 to 0-2, a power-packed six minute cameo would produce an unanswered 1-3. Points from Coney, Niall McKenna and Paddy McNeice, within the space of as many minutes, levelled the match. In the 19th minute, a long ball from midfielder McKenna was pounced on by Coney and driven to the net to restore the Red Hand lead. Unfazed, Roscommon fought admirably to get back on terms, with Darren McDermott"s point coming immediately following the Tyrone goal. With Cathal Dolphin (Padraig Pearses) and St. Ciaran"s Eamonn Bannon proving the bulwark of the Ros" resistance, it was unfortunate that a cheaply conceded free gave Tyrone"s Conor O"Neill a simple tap-over to restore their three-point lead, but the irrepressible Shine forced the foul, a minute into injury-time, pointed by Dara Lennon, to leave it all to play for at half-time, with Tyrone ahead narrowly by 1-6 to 1-4. If there were any remaining pockets of scepticism extant among the Ros" faithful they were rapidly extinguished within 25 seconds of the resumption when Michael Sweeney"s slick point set the scene for further heroics by the Connacht finalists. Despite the fine performance of Niall McKenna (Tyrone) at midfield, the terrific work-rate of the Roscommon team was reaping rich dividends. In particular, much pressure was being exerted by the forward sextet, with Darren McDermott, in particular, forcing the Tyrone selectors to deploy team captain and Colleges star Ryan Pickering on the Éire Óg player. A brace of points from Bernard Carthy and Niall Kilroy restored Roscommon"s lead early in the second moiety, but the huge effort expended by the gallant Primrose and Blue against very strong opposition was about to exact its toll. The sheer strength of the Tyrone challenge was clearly evident as they went on to regain a lead which they would not lose again. Wing-forward Matthew Donnelly and super sub Ronan Tierney (2) were all on target with points before an injury to Darren McDermott which forced his premature withdrawal, was, without doubt, a grievous blow to the westerners. It took an absolutely outstanding block from corner-back Cathal Dolphin to prevent a major Tyrone strike, and with centre-back Niall Daly taking a heavy knock which went unpunished, the tide inevitably turned. Tyrone centre-forward Diarmuid McNulty and Dara Lennon Roscommon (free) exchanged points, and, with ten minutes remaining, only a brace of points was the difference between the sides, 1-10 to 1-8. However, there would be not let-up to the Tyrone power-show, as a tiring Roscommon were hit with five late unanswered points per a now dominant Donnelly (3), McNeice, and, perhaps appropriately, Coney, to bring their sides total to 1-15, and, with it, a place in the All-Ireland semi-finals, where they will fancy their chances of further progress. And so, the small band of Tyrone supporters who made the long trip to Longford saw their favourites prevail in the end, but Roscommon can take several positives from this quarter-final, which was of much higher standard than some of the poor fare on offer in the Mayo-Monaghan earlier encounter. Even though they did not win, Roscommon gave further evidence of a rich pool of young talent in the county, and consequently renewed hope for the future. Goalie Darren O"Malley could do little about the shot that beat him, but he had a fine game otherwise, with Cathal Dolphin, Eamonn Bannon and Niall Daly tenacious in defence. Eugene Stritch and Cathal Shine had spells of ascendancy at midfield against their Niall McKenna led Tyrone opponents, while in an attack where five of their starting formation were on target, Bernard Carthy, Niall Kilroy, Darren McDermott and a quieter-than-usual Dara Lennon figured prominently at various stages of the contest. SCORERS - Tyrone - K Coney (1-2), P McNeice (0-4, 3f), M Donnelly (0-4), R Tierney (0-2), N McKenna (0-1), C O"Neill (0-1f), D McNulty (0-1). Roscommon - D McDermott (1-1), N Kilroy (0-2), D Lennon (0-2, 2fs), E Stritch (0-1), M Sweeney (0-1), B Carthy (0-1). Tyrone - Tim Harney, Finbar McQuaid, Gavin Teague, Ryan Pickering (capt.), Stephen McRory, Peter Harte, Kevin Mossey, Niall McKenna, Seán Warnock, Ciarán Girvan, Diarmuid McNulty, Matthew Donnelly, Kyle Coney, Paddy McNeice, Conor O"Neill. Subs: Ronan Tierney for Teague (32), Ronan McNabb for Warnock (42), Brian Kelly for Girvan (48), Michael Slane for McQuaid (57), Martin Rodgers for O"Neill (58). Roscommon - Darren O"Malley, Paddy Brogan, Neil Collins, Cathal Dolphin, Eamonn Bannon, Niall Daly, MIchael Higgins, Eugene Stritch (capt), Cathal Shine, Michael Sweeney, Brian Murtagh, Bernard Carthy, Niall Kilroy, Dara Lennon, Darren McDermott. Subs: Eoin Sheehy for McDermott (inj., 42), Thomas Hanly for Lennon (55), Shane Beirne for Brogan (60), Shane Regan for Murtagh (61). Referee: Paul Kneel (Louth), who issued 5 yellow cards (3 to Tyrone).