Rossies set to host Carlow after cruising to victory over London

ROSCOMMON continue their Allianz Football League campaign against Carlow this Sunday (Dr Hyde Park, 2.30pm), after claiming their maiden win in the Division 4 series against London at Ruislip last Saturday. Senan O'Grady notched 1-2, and Kevin Higgins four points, as Fergal O'Donnell's men brushed aside London on a scoreline of 1-14 to 0-7, as the Rossies built on the draw against Longford in their opening league fixture. The reigning Connacht champions, who are still without injured ace forward Donie Shine, dominated possession throughout last weekend's win at Ruislip, but struggled at times to convert their superiority into scores. Roscommon hit a late flurry of scores in the first half to lead 0-7 to 0-4 at the interval. London managed to narrow the gap to two points shortly after the restart, but Roscommon fired 1-2 in the final four minutes, with O'Grady's goal coming during injury time. However, despite winning by ten points, manager Fergal O'Donnell told the assembled media afterwards that he feels Roscommon are currently playing within themselves, and he was disappointed that they failed to kick-on sufficiently in the second half. The Roscommon starting line-up included four players from the south of the county in Clann na nGael's Cathal Shine, Padraig Pearse's Niall Carty, and St Dominic's duo Mark Miley (goalkeeper) and Michael Finneran, while Clann forward Johnny Dunning also made an appearance as a second-half substitute. Roscommon will again be without their St Brigid's contingent this weekend, as the Kiltoom club continue their preparations for the All-Ireland club semi-final against Nemo Rangers in the Gaelic Grounds on Saturday, February 26. Carlow, who were beaten by Fermanagh last weekend, drew their opening fixture against Wicklow. Luke Dempsey's side actually performed quite well for long spells against Fermanagh, with Darragh Foley showing up well with four points. However, they will be without influential midfielder Brendan Murphy, who went off during last weekend's defeat with a nasty ankle injury.