Slow start proves costly as Rossies inflict early damage
WITH Louth aiming to arrest a debilitating tendency for slow starts and Roscommon intent on putting an abject performance against Down behind them, the start was always going to be crucial at the Gaelic Grounds on Sunday.
And so it proved, as a devastating opening 10 minutes from the Rossies put them firmly in the driving seat in a make-orbreak showdown.
Louth did offer some measure of resistance as the firsthalf progressed, but in the end Roscommon’s extra class and craft trumped the home side’s resilience quite comfortably.
In truth, Louth never really recovered from that devastating opening salvo by Roscommon.
The Connacht outfit barely let their hosts out of their own half as they opened a fivepoint lead inside 10 minutes, by which point the Reds were lucky not be chasing an even bigger deficit.
Midfielders Enda Smith and Conor Daly set the tone with an explosive start to the contest.
The drove Roscommon forward from the first whistle and the latter opened the scoring after just 20 seconds.
Craig Lynch dropped the resulting kick-out straight to a grateful Conor Devenney and he made it two-nil with barely a minute on the clock.
Then it was Smith’s turn to take centre stage, curling over a super point from the left, before switching sides and technique to fire over a sublime point with the outside of his boot.
Another Devenney point made it 0-5 to no score and then Roscommon passed up two goal chances.
An over-elaborate build-up allowed Louth to clear their
lines for the first opportunity and Lynch made a classy save to deny full forward Ciaran Lennon moments later.
That whirlwind start and the ease in which they built up a commanding lead possibly led to a degree of complacency in the Roscommon ranks as the first-half progressed, but equally Louth deserve credit for gaining a foothold in the game.
Ryan Burns opened their account with a brace of frees to cut the gap to 0-5 to 0-2, and thereafter it was point-for-point until the interval.
Tommy Durnin, Ronan Holcroft, Anthony Williams and Derek Maguire all found their range for the home side, but Roscommon always had a response as Diarmuid Murtagh, Niall Daly, Conor Daly and Murtagh with brace made it 0-10 to 0-6 at the break.
Pete McGrath was forced into two half-time substitutions as William Woods picked up a harsh enough black card in injury-time and Tommy Durnin was stood down by medical staff due to a suspected concussion. And with Ger McSorley also replacing Ronan Holcroft, Louth had plenty of fresh legs for the start of the second period.
McSorley reduced the arrears to three points after seven minutes, but that was as good as it got for Louth.
Kevin McStay summoned Donie Smith five minutes into the second-half and the Boyle star made a huge impact.
He opened his account with points before and after a Ciaran Murtagh free to dampen the flames of Louth’s revival.
McSorley replied with his second point soon after but the game was over as a contest by the 48th minute when Diarmuid Murtagh applied a confident low finish to a flowing Roscommon move to make it 1-13 to 0-8.
Points from Bevan Duffy and Andy McDonnell stayed Louth’s execution briefly, but Roscommon were in no mood for a comeback and spent the final 10 minutes plus stoppage time working on their score difference.
Smith also seemed to have a personal agenda ahead of Sunday’s trip to Ennis as he kicked five of the Rossies’ last seven scores to finish as their top scorer.
Ryan Burns and Ger McSorley ended up as Louth’s joint top marksmen with three apiece and they kicked the Reds’ last two scores.
Mathematically the Reds can still pull off a great escape, but in reality it’s now only matter of time before the trapdoor opens and that could be as soon as next Sunday in Semple Stadium.