CADCO IFC Group A Round 2
Roslea 3-11 Irvinestown 1-12
By Patrick McKiernan
A STRONG second half performance helped Roslea turn the tables on Irvinestown on Saturday evening to put themselves in a good position to top their group and qualify for the Intermediate Championship semi-finals.
Irvinestown will be disappointed with their second-half performance, but were bested by a Roslea side that appear to have put their substandard showing in the Division Two final behind them.
Seamus Quigley opened the Roslea scoring by converting a free for a three-up infraction by Irvinestown.
Their lead was doubled after six minutes when Adam Treanor was played in to clip over a fine point from play.
Roslea were then caught committing their own three-up foul and Gary Maguire converted the resulting free to get the visitors on the scoreboard.
Irvinestown then started to get more of the ball and a fine passage of play was finished off by Ronan Ormsby, who levelled the game with a point from play.
Ormsby then scored the first goal of the contest after referee Eoin Murphy awarded Irvinestown a free kick.
It looked as though Murphy was motioning to bring the ball forward, but Ormsby took it quickly, catching Roslea completely off guard and the ball nestled in the net.
Roslea went on the attack from the restart and earned a ’45, which Seán Quigley launched over the bar with typical ease.
Irvinestown then took control of the match, with James Hanna pointing from play and Caolan Ward adding a brace of well-taken scores from play.
A Mattie McDermott free stretched the visitors’ lead to six points.
Then, right on half-time, Roslea were handed a lifeline when Seamus Quigley’s shot on goal was blown up for a footblock, giving the Shamrocks a penalty.
The penalty was saved, but Seán Quigley reacted quickest to score from the rebound, leaving the half-time score at 1-03 to 1-06 in Irvinestown’s favour.
Mattie McDermott and Caolan Rooney traded points for their sides to start the second half, before Kevin McDonell struck from play to extend Irvinestown’s lead to four.
A high ball from Conor Mulligan sailed over everyone, including the Irvinestown goalkeeper, and dropped kindly for Seamus Quigley, who finished to cut Roslea’s deficit to a single point.
Mattie McDermott scored from play for the visitors before Roslea grabbed their second goal of the half to take the lead.
It was a carbon copy of their previous strike, but this time Seamus Quigley lofted the ball over for Niall Cosgrove to finish.
Irvinestown, shaken by the concession of two quick-fire goals, kept possession for a few minutes and tried to regain control.
As the game entered its final 10 minutes, Irvinestown grabbed three points from play, including a peach of a point from Barry Goodwin, to restore a two-point lead.
With five minutes left, Adam Callaghan, who had been fantastic all game, stunned Irvinestown once more with a hat-trick of remarkable two-pointers from play, effectively sealing the game for the Shamrocks.
Seamus Quigley finished the scoring for the match with a fine free kick following another three-up infraction from Irvinestown.
Irvinestown will look to bounce back from this deflating loss when they face Belcoo on Sunday, while Roslea aim to seal a semi-final spot against Maguiresbridge.