February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Pierce O’Reilly
Cork 0-7, Roscommon 0-5
Liam Birmingham will be happy that his side got of to a winning start especially after their disappointing season last year. The Munster men were first to score Sunday at Gaelic Park, and with Kildare U-21 star Brian Flood in fine form, they always posed problems for the Roscommon defense.
Martin McDermott had the services of Rossa O’Callaghan at midfield and the Dublin club footballer played his heart out. The former Roscommon senior hit two excellent frees for his side in the first half, but he was fighting a lone furrow for long periods. Cork’s overall better balance especially in defense gave them the advantage and just was enough to edge out a brave Roscommon fightback.
Cork led 0-4 to 0-3 at the interval with Flood kicking all but one of his side’s total. The other score came from the boot of Tadhg Callaghan, who was playing his second game of the afternoon. Apart from O’Callaghan, Padraig Mulally was outstanding in the Roscommon full back line and his courage and reading of the game kept the primrose and blue hopes alive in the second half.
Cork welcomed back New York panelist Pat Mahoney, who was donning the rebels jersey for the first time in two years. His ability to gather possession around the middle and the pace of the front sextet keep the Munstermen in front by the narrowest of margins. Holland and two frees from import Flood secured a two-point victory for the rebels. Tim Coakley and O’Callaghan fought to the bitter end, but they didn’t have enough support from a lackluster attack that managed to score only one point over the hour.
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Cork: Gerry Pat O’Leary, Kenny Delanty, CJ Dohery, Liam Hanley, Stephan O’Shea, Enda Lally, Brendan Wiley, Pat Mahoney, Denis Kiely, Tadhg Donovan, Brian Flood 0-5, Tom Fitzgibbon, Jeremy Holland 0-1, James McSweeney, Tadhg Callaghan 0-1.
Roscommon: Mike Deere, Tom Simms, Padraig Mulally, Mark Kelly, Rory Melaugh, Declan Coyne, Eddie Flynn, Rossa O’Callaghan 0-3, Tim Coakley 0-1, Richie Maher, Hugh O’Malley, Noel McTiernan, Donie Farrell, Aidan Smith, Joe Murray 0-1.