Nothing to separate Galway and 14-man Roscommon in tetchy draw

There was no score for the final 14 minutes and both sides finished with 14 men, Roscommon picking up a red card and Galway hit with a black immediately after.

Despite starting with a gale behind their backs, Roscommon struggled to make the most of conditions for much of the opening half. Their first three shots were all wides while Galway struck a single one and at that stage, Matthew Tierney already had credit in the bank having scored a superb free from near the sideline earlier.

It was the visitors who struck first with a Robert Finnerty free and Cillian Ó Curraoin followed it up with a fisted effort. Roscommon lost Ciaran Lennon to an early injury and his replacement Conor Cox made an immediate impact with consecutive frees. Daire Cregg showed his team-mates how to utilise the wind with a floated effort from range. Midway through the half, they led for the first time.

There was just one between them as half-time approached but final Davy Burke’s savage press paid dividends. Throughout the half one of their corner-backs was leaving a Galway man free inside and pushing into midfield. Ruaidhrí Fallon, one of several late changes, continued his St Brigid’s form before Galway added an Ó Curraoin free. Three Cox points in five minutes was the difference at the turnaround.

Roscommon’s creativity in the set-piece wasn’t mirrored in open play, though. Too often they had no depth in their attack against a Galway blanket defence. They tried several aimless floated balls for no return. Their overall conversion was 47%.

That theme continued in the second half. Diarmaid Murtagh missed a free from the top of the D. A quick break from a Galway kickout gifted Enda Smith a goal opportunity but he blasted wide. It fell to Ben O’Carroll to stem the tide after two quick Galway frees as the exciting prospect slotted their first point of the second half.

Kieran Molloy, in a new look wing -forward position, slotted over and Tierney followed it up with a boomer. A tetchy affair finally boiled over with 60 minutes on the clock. Donie Smith saw red for appearing to make contact with Paul Conroy’s face while the midfielder was shown a yellow for his previous part in the altercation.

The veteran midfielder was immense throughout for the Tribesmen. It was his free that drew them level. Debutant Jack McCabe, on the field a matter of minutes, was shown a black card for a trip to leave them square in every sense with five additional minutes to be played.

Keith Doyle and Molloy both had opportunities. They both tailed wide. In the end, neither side could find their opening victory of the Allianz League.

Scorers for Roscommon: Conor Cox 0-5 (0-4 free), Daire Cregg 0-1, Ruaidhrí Fallon 0-1, Ben O’Carroll 0-1, Diarmuid Murtagh 0-1 (free).

Scorers for Galway: Cillian Ó Curraoin 0-3 (2 frees), Matthew Tierney 0-2 (1 free), Robert Finnerty 0-2 (2 frees), Kieran Molloy 0-1, Paul Conroy 0-1.

Roscommon: C Carroll; R Dolan, D Murray, N Higgins; N Daly, R Fallon, E McCormack; E Smith, D Ruane; C Connolly, D Cregg, C Lennon; D Murtagh, B O’Carroll, D Smith.

Subs: C Cox for Lennon (9 - inj), B Stack for Connolly (30), K Doyle for Ruane (44), J Fitzpatrick for Cregg (65), E Flynn for Dolan (73), A Glennon for Murtagh (75).

Galway: C Gleeson; J McGrath, S Fitzgerald, E Kelly; D McHugh, J Daly, S Mulkerrin; P Conroy, J Maher; K Molloy, M Tierney, C Sweeney; L Ó Conghaile, R Finnerty, C Ó Curraoin.

Subs: J Heaney for Kelly (44), C Darcy for Ó Curraoin (55), J McCabe for Finnerty (62), P Egan for Mulkerrin (70).

Referee: C Lane (Cork).