Allianz Football League Division 3 – Roscommon 1-12 Tipperary 0-12

Devaney drives Rossies to victory

Roscommon 1-12 Tipperary 0-12

By Ian Cooney for the Irish Examiner newspaper

Tipperary’s credentials as promotion hopefuls from Division 3 suffered an early blow as their journey to Kiltoom proved fruitless. The destination of the points hinged on the defining score in the 46th minute. Roscommon had just surged two points clear and Tipp were on the attack when David Keenan made a crucial block. In a flash the ball was worked to John Rogers who sent a long delivery into Darren McDermott. The Castlerea St Kevin’s player set sail for goal and squared the ball for Devaney, who finished low to the net.

Roscommon were in the driving seat and when Tipperary lost their ace attacker Barry Grogan to a second yellow card, a comfortable victory for the home side looked likely. But Tipperary battled back and a couple of subs, including All-Ireland winning minor star Michael Quinlivan, helped their cause. Points from Philip Austin and substitute Shane Ryan eroded Roscommon’s deficit to a point with only two minutes remaining. But late points from centre back Niall Daly and Rogers gave Roscommon the spoils.

Scores for Roscommon: D Shine 0-3fs, C Devaney 1-0, J Rogers (2fs), G Heneghan, N Daly 0-2, M Finneran, K Higgins, D McDermott 0-1 each.

Scorers for Tipperary: P Austin (1f), B Grogan (3f) 0-4 each, S Ryan 0-2, Mulvihill, E Ryan 0-1 each.

ROSCOMMON: G Claffey; S McDermott, N Collins, S Ormsby; C Dineen, N Daly, S Purcell; M Finneran, K Higgins; D Keenan, D Shine, J Rogers; D McDermott, C Devaney, G Heneghan. Subs: D O’Gara for Dineen (60), C Cafferky for Ormsby (63), E Kenny for Heneghan (64), M Scally for McDermott (70).

TIPPERARY: M O’Donnell; R Costigan, P Codd, C McDonald; R Kiely, T Ryan, A Morrissey; B Jones, E Ryan; H Coghlan, D Butler, S Grogan, C Sweeney, P Austin, B Grogan. Subs: S Ryan for Butler (27), M Quinlivan for S Grogan (46), B Mulvihill for Sweeney (46), S Carey for Coghlan (64).

Referee: D Fahy (Longford)