Roscommon breezed into the Connacht SFC semi-finals with a 5-22 to 1-10 victory over New York at Gaelic Park on Sunday.
If the huge Roscommon following had been expecting a stern test from the Exiles, it never materialised. Mark Dowd’s men set about dismantling the home side from the throw-in and, after Enda Smith fisted to the net after just 20 seconds, it quickly became a one-sided contest.
New York responded with a well-worked team goal in the second minute, finished to the net by Jack Foley, but it proved to be a false dawn. Roscommon went on to score four more goals in a devastating first-half display.
Further majors from Rob Heneghan in the eighth minute, Dylan Ruane after 16 minutes, Darragh Heneghan in the 20th minute and Eoin McCormack in the 27th helped Roscommon into a commanding 5-11 to 1-4 lead by half-time.
The only real concern from a Roscommon point of view came in the 34th minute, when Daire Cregg was shown a straight red card following a clash with Eoghan McElligott. It looked a very harsh decision from referee Brendan Cawley, and Roscommon will surely consider an appeal. If the decision stands, he will be ruled out of the match against Mayo.
The second half was a stroll in the park as the contest was over and both sides went through the motions. Roscommon used five subs as Mark Dowd ran the rule over his panel ahead of a huge clash with Mayo in Castlebar in two weeks time. It was a very professional display from Roscommon but that red card for Daire Cregg is the only cloud on the horizon for The Rossies who were in The Bronx in huge numbers and they enjoyed the brilliant sunshine knowing that much tougher test lie ahead. Several Roscommon players did well and in that first half it looked like they could score in almost every attack but Senan Lambe stood out with another superb display at wing half back.
