Late Sherry strike not so sweet for Roscommon

Roscommon were denied victory in this Division 2 NFL tie as a James Sherry goal in the final thirty seconds gave Fermanagh an ill deserved one-point win. In a sensational finale at Brewster Park, the Roslea man found the net with a low shot from the edge of the square, and there was virtually no time remaining for stunned Roscommon to salvage at least a point. They won the resultant kick-out, made some headway up the left flank but were stalled and full-time was blown. Fermanagh had grasped a victory from the jaws of defeat. After their 2-20 to 1-10 defeat to Cavan in the opening round, Roscommon badly needed a morale-boosting win in Enniskillen, and they looked like getting it until Sherry's late intervention. It had been a limited Fermanagh performance right from the outset, with the omens not promising due to another raft of personnel changes from the publicised line-out. Some of the more experienced hands were out of contention and the team on duty had a cobbled together look. So it was no surprise then that Roscommon opened with the greater sense of purpose and they duly swung their way into a quick two point lead. They had points from centre-back Cathal Cregg, who was to be one of their mainstays throughout the hour, and from midfielder Michael Finneran (St Dominic's), who thumped over a good strike. Roscommon, in fact, should have pushed themselves further in front but they were to fritter away a couple of chances which let a desultory Fermanagh off the hook to some extent. Eventually Fermanagh did begin to steady themselves and they picked their way back into the contest with equalising points supplied by Matthew Keenan and Ciaran Flaherty, both scores created with some fluent approach play. Roscommon hit the front again with two more scores. Mark O'Carroll of St Brigid's casually knocked over from distance and an astute pass from the influential Cregg found wing half-forward Kevin Higgins, who stepped inside his marker to arrow over a fine shot. That score arrived on the 18th-minute mark but Roscommon failed to score again before the break. And in the lead up to the interval, Fermanagh were to post two points from Ryan Jones who steered over from an angle and Jones slid a quick free to Daryl Keenan for the latter to pop over. But Fermanagh, who reached the interval a shade fortunate to be level on four points each, could also have been well ahead. They had been presented with two clear-cut goaling opportunities, neither taken. First up, full-forward Ryan Carson's well hit volley was smothered by Roscommon's smartly advancing goalkeeper Geoffrey Claffey. And a few minutes later, a momentary delay by Ciaran Flaherty in pulling the trigger saw his shot blocked away by a terrific challenge from Roscommon corner-back Stephen Ormsby. The first score on the resumption was something of a gift to Roscommon as Fermanagh made a hash of free kick situation and a foul was conceded. Donal Shine steered over the shot from the left wing, not the last time the impeccable Clann na nGael player was to float over scores. And then on 40 minutes, Fermanagh made what looked like a decisive breakthrough with their first goal. A long ball punted down the centre cleared the Roscommon backline and Ryan Carson latched on to it. The full-forward's shot came back off the crossbar but fortune favoured him, the rebound came kindly and he smacked home at the second attempt. A smashing lift for the home team. And when Roscommon were penalised for a technical offence, with Ryan Jones easily knocking over the resultant free, the game appeared to have turned in the home team's favour. But the drive on from there didn't materialise. A string of errors in defence allowed Roscommon to surge their way back into the fray. A key figure in Roscommon's resurgence was full-forward Donal Shine. He had gorged himself on a banquet of scores against Cavan and he gorged himself again here with five in row that jumped his side from a three-point deficit into a two-point lead. It was impressive stuff from Shine as he made Fermanagh pay for some indecisive defensive play. The Ulster side were crumbling but they managed a critical score on 56 minutes from Ciaran Flaherty which boosted their resolve somewhat, but it was Roscommon who were the more authoritative side. They had the greater share of the attacking play, Fermanagh rarely breaking beyond the middle of the park. But, crucially, Roscommon's scoring dried up and they were to collect just one further point; a haphazard Fermanagh pass out of defence was easily mopped up and the ball sent in to corner-forward John Rogers, who tucked over his score. Down to the final minutes, Fermanagh now two adrift but with just about enough time remaining to salvage at least a draw. But when Carson sent a 45 wide it looked to be all over, a goal now clearly required. Astonishingly the goal was carved out, substitute Chris O'Brien ducking in on a nippy run and when the ball was eventually transferred into the goal area, Sherry was on hand to claim. He swivelled to send a low shot across the face of goal to shoot the Erne team in front. A total downer for devastated Roscommon, as Fermanagh celebrated a last-ditch reprieve. SCORERS - Fermanagh: J Sherry and R Carson 1-0 each; C Flaherty 0-2; R Jones 0-2 (1f); D Keenan 0-1; M Keenan 0-1f. Roscommon: D Shine 0-6 (5f); C Cregg, M Finneran, K Higgins, M O'Carroll and J Rogers 0-1 each. FERMANAGH: Chris Breen; Michael Jones, Niall McGovern, Niall Bogue; Thomas McElroy, Barry Mulrone, Rory Foy; James Sherry, Paul Cosgrove; Ciaran McElroy, Matthew Keenan, Ryan Jones; Ciaran Flaherty, Ryan Carson, Daryl Keenan. Subs: R Keenan for C McElroy; Kevin Cosgrove for P Cosgrove; Chris O'Brien for M Keenan; John Woods for R Foy. ROSCOMMON: Geoffrey Claffey; Sean McDermott, Michael Killilea, Stephen Ormsby; Peter Domican, Cathal Cregg, Ian Kilbride; Michael Finneran, Mark O'Carroll; Kevin Higgins, Cathal McHugh, Sean Purcell; John Rogers, Donal Shine, David O'Gara; Subs: James Connaughton for S Purcell; Colm Garvey for I Kilbride. REFEREE: Seamus McGonigle (Donegal).