Murray mints Derry win to set up Dublin showdown
In his answer to the first question of his post-match interview, Derry manager Mickey Harte had already referenced Dublin and their looming league final clash, understandable as his side had long since taken care of business here and booked a Croke Park showdown.
At that point it was difficult to remember the stage of the afternoon where Roscommon had the game’s momentum, kicking the first three points of the second half to pull level on 41 minutes.
If they were to make a push for safety and heap pressure on a Galway team struggling in Killarney, that was the moment.
Instead, Derry took charge, kicking 1-7 on the spin to tie the game up. They also outscored Roscommon 1-11 to a single point from there until the long whistle as the Connacht men sank without a trace.
Save for one or two caveats, it’s hard to imagine a more satisfactory afternoon for Derry.
Conor Glass – immense again – was called ashore long before referee David Gough called time.
And with the introduction of Matthew Downey, Harte had used his 37th different player across league and McKenna Cup, a significant trawl for a county accused of not having the depth of the other main contenders.
Of their 2-19 on the day, 2-18 came from play on a day where they started without Brendan Rogers and Ciarán McFaul.
The major black mark came with the broken nose sustained by Gareth McKinless, which is likely to keep him out of the league final, though in the credit side of the ledger, Lachlan Murray and Donncha Gilmore showed that they are ready to shoulder more responsibility.
From 11 games under Harte, Derry have taken 10 wins, falling only to the Dublin ‘juggernaut’ they’ll face at headquarters next weekend
“It’s been a good league for us. Any time you get to a Division One final, you are doing OK,” Harte said.
Juggernaut
“Unfortunately, you see the juggernaut that is coming down the other side. But that’s where they’re at, so we have to go there (Croke Park) to see how to manage to play against them this time again.
“We didn’t do great in Celtic Park and Croke Park probably won’t be any easier, but it’s great to be in the final.
“And to be in the final you had to be consistent, and we were consistent across the seven games. That is why we are going next week for a final.”
What both teams needed from the afternoon was clear before throw-in. Derry wanted just a draw to secure that final place, while only a win – and defeat for Galway – would see Roscommon retain their top-flight status.
They never really looked like pulling that off. They led just twice here, once after the first score of the game, again after a well worked Niall Daly point on the counter-attack on 22 minutes.
Roscommon can point to a number of goal chances that they didn’t convert.
In the opening half, Enda Smith and Brian Stack had sights on goal, while they also found Odhrán Lynch a stubborn presence – even when the game was gone from them. But it always felt like Derry had another gear.
They were four points up on ten minutes when Declan Cassidy capitalised on a lost Roscommon kick-out to goal, though the visitors hit back inside a minute when Donie Smith punched a ball to the net after Lynch was caught upfield.
Stack’s goal chance approaching the half-hour mark felt pivotal. His effort flashed wide and Derry kicked the last two scores of the half to take a 1-8 to 1-5 lead in at the break.
Roscommon staged a mini-revival on the restart, but getting level on 41 minutes was as good as it got.
This is a familiar road for Roscommon, who have now been relegated from the top flight four times in eight years.
And like Harte, Davy Burke was already looking ahead.
“This is an experienced dressing room, they are used to setbacks and this is a setback,” Burke declared.
“Staying in Division 1 was our first goal. Last year, we were third in Division 1 and we were brilliant, weren’t we? And we were still emptied out in the last 12, so let’s hope we can do it a different way this year.
“It is mental fuel, too, because it is mental fatigue you can get from the driving, the travel. We have not really asked too many questions yet of these
boys, putting the gun to their head or anything like that, but now that will start. It is go time, it is championship.”
Famous for his desire to hoover up whatever silverware he can, Harte accepted that, on the basis of their defeat to Dublin, they have lots to do this week to bridge the gap.
“The sheer skill sets that they have and the belief in each other and the history obviously of six All-Irelands in the not too distant past, and a good number of those players (are) still playing,” Harte reasoned. “So, they’ve been to lots of places and they’ve dug themselves out of difficult places and they have a lot of quality. Their system of play is very difficult to deal with and they are difficult to break down, they are difficult to stop, so they have a lot of things (for us) to be dealing with.”
SCORERS – Derry: L Murray 1-4; E Doherty, S McGuigan (1f) 0-4 each; D Cassidy 1-0; P Cassidy 0-2 (1f); C Glass, E McEvoy, N Toner, C Murphy, C McFaul 0-1 each. Roscommon: D Murtagh 0-3 (2f); D Smith 1-0; E Smith 0-2; D Cregg (1f), E McCormack, N Daly, C Cox 0-1 each. DERRY: O Lynch 8; C McCluskey 7, C McKaigue 7, D Baker 6; G McKinless 6, E McEvoy 7, C Doherty 7; C Glass 9, D Gilmore 8; E Doherty 9, D Cassidy 7, P Cassidy 8; C McGuckin 7, S McGuigan 8, L Murray 9. Subs: B Rogers 7 for McKinless (BS, 8), C McFaul 8 for D Cassidy (h-t), N Toner 8 for McGuckin (h-t), S Downey 7 for C Doherty (57), M Downey for Glass (61), C Murphy for Murray (66). ROSCOMMON: C Carroll 6; D Murray 6, B Stack 8, P Gavin 7; N Daly 7, N Higgins 6, E McCormack 7; E Smith 7, U Harney 6; D Ruane 6, R Fallon 6, R Daly 6; D Cregg 6, D Murtagh 7, D Smith 6. Subs: C Connolly 6 for Cregg (49), J Fitzpatrick 6 for D Smith, C Hussey 6 for Higgins (53), C Lennon for Harney, C Cox for Fallon (61). REF: D Gough (Meath).