TO THE FORE… Sean Quigley
Ederney 0-11
Roslea 0-12
League champions Ederney slumped to a defeat as they opened the defence of their title.
A disappointing result for them though the opposition was the vastly experienced Roslea and the league holders did make a terrific effort to stave off defeat with a resolute second half challenge.
A strong wind was to be a big factor in shaping the make up of this game with Roslea enjoying the benefit of it in the opening half and they made fairly good use of it to reach the interval leading by half a dozen points.
Not an especially large advantage given the conditions but in the end it proved to be sufficient for the day, Roslea crucially picking off two isolated points in the second half to keep themselves ahead.
The league holders were to find themselves always chasing the game and they faced an uphill battle from an early stage as Roslea were soon into a convincing rhythm and the Shamrocks were soon out into the lead.
Sean Quigley much to the fore for them and he was to shoot a number of well struck points from his place kicking with Seamus Quigley chipping in with a couple of scores to keep their scoreboard ticking over.
Conor Mulligan also showing up well for Roslea and over that first half they looked to be well in command of matters.
Ederney however were by no means being swamped though it did take them sometime to get themselves settled into the fray. They had slipped several points adrift before gaining a foothold of sorts.
They were to reach the interval with a five points tally, Aaron Dennison advancing from his half back slot to fist a score, other points supplied by Paul McCusker with frees and Peter Gormley.
Chasing a deficit of six points on the restart, Ederney did make a stronger impression in the second half but they were never to have the boost of getting themselves back on level terms.
Roslea always had the benefit of the lead with those two crucial points in the half coming around the 40th and 50th minute marks from the Quigley strike force.
But they did have their work cut out to fend off the determined chase from the league holders. Paul Mc Cusker with some neat place kicking and a score from play was in the vanguard of the Ederney revival and in fact it was something of a McCusker brothers driven revival with Darren and Declan McCusker also chipping in.
Ederney did however spurn some other reasonable opportunities and Roslea hung on for a very important away win, the foundations of their success clearly laid in the first half.
For them the Quigley brothers were much in evidence especially in the breeze assisted opening half and Shane Lynch also looked enterprising for them.
For Ederney, Dennison was an effective half back and Declan McCusker popped up all over the park to inspire his team’s second half revival.