Allianz Football League Division 3 – Roscommon 1-21 Limerick 0-13

Roscommon defeated Limerick by 1-21 to 0-13 in round 3 of the Allianz Football League Division 3 on Sunday March 2nd at Kiltoom.

Evans sets new targets for Rossies

Roscommon 1-21 Limerick 0-13

John Evans was already turning his attention towards next Sunday’s clash against Fermanagh, despite seeing his side just dismantle Limerick in clinical fashion at Kiltoom.

By Ian Cooney for the Irish Examiner newspaper

The Rossies were unstoppable during the opening half, scoring 15 times to leave 14 points between the sides at the break. Although John Brudair’s charges improved in the second period, hitting six points in succession midway through the half, they had left themselves with too much to do.

“We’re consolidating our position in the division at the moment,” he said. “The big thing about this league is that the middle game shows you where you are. It will decide where you’re going to go, so next Sunday in Fermanagh becomes hugely important now. “We were 12 points down at one stage last year [against Fermanagh]. We’re in a much better position going up there this time.”

Roscommon ran riot during the opening 35 minutes to leave their opponents stunned. Enda Smith curled over a point inside 30 seconds to set the trend for the opening 35 minutes. Roscommon’s goal arrived in the 30th minute when Smith unselfishly squared the ball for Diarmuid Murtagh to find the net to give them a healthy 1-14 to 0-3 advantage at the break.

“You’d have to be pleased when you put up 1-14 in the first half,” said Evans. “We played some scintillating stuff and you can see that the players’ confidence is growing. The style of football we’re playing is good. But the second half would lead us to believe that we’ve a good bit of work to do.”.

The second half continued in a similar fashion initially with Conor Daly, Cathal Cregg, Donal Shine (a free) and Kevin Higgins finding the target. Limerick mustered up some sort of challenge with six points in succession from John Riordan, Ian Corbett, Seánie Buckley, Stephen Lucey and Seamus O’Carroll (45) midway through the half but the damage was too extensive to repair. Roscommon finished with two points from Donie Shine to round off a great day

Scorers for Roscommon: C Cregg 0-7, D Murtagh 1-2, D Shine (2f, 1 45), C Daly 0-4 each, S Kilbride 0-2 (1f), K Higgins, E Smith 0-1 each.

Scorers for Limerick: I Ryan 0-4 (3f), S Buckley 0-2, J Riordan, E Hanrahan (45), J Mullane, S Lucey, S O’Carroll (45), I Corbett, M Brosnan, K Phair 0-1 each.

ROSCOMMON: D O’Malley; N Collins, N Carty, S McDermott; D Keenan, N Daly, C Cafferky; K Higgins, C Shine; E Smith, D Shine, C Daly; S Kilbride, C Cregg, D Murtagh.

Subs: D O’Gara for E Smith (43), R Stack for Collins (49), D Keane for O’Gara (53), M Nally for C Daly (56), D Smith for Cregg (60), F Cregg for Murtagh (60).

LIMERICK: D O’Sullivan; J McCarthy, P Browne, M O’Riordan; J Riordan, I Corbett, S O’Meara; G Hegarty, T Lee; M Brosnan, E Hanrahan, S Buckley; G Collins, J Mullane, I Ryan.

Subs: S Lucey for O’Meara (26), S O’Carroll for Hegarty (30), D Treacey for Collins (38), K Phair for Mullane (53), M Fitzgibbon for Hanrahan (55), D McCarthy for Brosnan (57).

Referee: N Ward (Westmeath).

Fixture Details

Allianz Football League Roinn 3 Round 3

Kiltoom 14:00

Ros Comáin v Luimneach

Referee: Niall Ward (An Iarmhí)

Team News

Limerick (SF v Roscommon) – D O’Sullivan; J McCarthy, P Brown, M O’Riordan; J Riordan, I Corbett, P Ranahan; G Hegarty, T Lee; M Brosnan, E Hanrahan, S Buckley; G Collins, J Mullane, I Ryan.