Roscommon 0-13
Tyrone 0-17
Tyrone ratings
Niall Morgan: Two huge saves in the first half. One you’d expect him to make with his knees, the other a better hand to deny Enda Smith from right on top of him. Beaten to a high ball late on. Kickouts perfect. 8.5
Hugh Pat McGeary: Booked inside six minutes for crossing the line in trying to rough Enda Smith up. Struggled to contain him and taken off on the half hour. 5
Ronan McNamee: Conor Cox became the latest man to fall to the in-form Aghyaran full-back. Strong and robust, had a couple of tough moments but you’d expect that against Cox. Took complete control after half-time.
Rory Brennan: Started off very well on Diarmuid Murtagh but his man came more and more into it, and shaded the battle overall. Great early tackle to slow Shane Killoran up on a goal chance. Kept driving on forward.
Michael Cassidy: A quieter day for the Ardboe man, who was a more occasional visitor to the attack than usual. Solid enough all the same.
Frank Burns: Took his time to land an early score. Set up Darren McCurry for a second half point. Sound in the defensive phalanx.
Michael McKernan: Got a spot back, though it was out on the wing rather at corner-back. Supplemented the attack well and even ended up having wee spells at full-forward. Turned over a couple of times though.
Colm Cavanagh: Has perfected the art of making all his fouls look accidental. Couple of great fetches at midfield, did well on hop balls too, but still vulnerable when Roscommon ran at Tyrone early on.
Brian Kennedy: Started superbly, kicking the game’s opening point and then creating a great turnover in a dangerous situation in front of his own goal. Picked up a harsh yellow card and taken off after just 28 minutes.
Mattie Donnelly: Quiet first half, excellent second. During the spell that Tyrone took control, he really began to drive on. Finished with two points and a couple of assists.
STAR MAN
Niall Sludden: His best since last year’s win over the Rossies. Met Conor Hussey’s early physicality and tore him apart with his pace. Had three points inside 22 minutes and added five assists to that tally. Outstanding.
Peter Harte: Popped up on a huge amount of ball throughout, and when he was on it he generally looked dangerous. Roscommon struggled when he ran at their heart.
Darren McCurry: Took him 20 minutes to get into the game but there was no shortage of effort. Found his feet, though only ended with a single point.
Cathal McShane: Eight points is decent shooting, but it was off 15 shots. His radar wasn’t quite as locked on as it has been. Worked exceptionally hard though and always a threat.
Conor Meyler: Was physical and in Cathal Cregg’s face before being moved on to Enda Smith. Struggled to make the same impact on that battle.
Subs
Ben McDonnell: Brought on and off again within 22 minutes of each other, thanks largely to getting booked. 5.5
Kieran McGeary: A bit of physicality was delivered, but his form still isn’t at last year’s heights. 5.5
Padraig Hampsey: Added a bit around the middle but kicked one ball away.
Richie Donnelly: A quiet cameo.
Connor McAliskey: See above.
Aidan McCrory: Not on long enough to be rated.
* * * * *
Roscommon ratings
Darren O’Malley: Hit his target on the kickouts. Landed a fine long-range free. Nothing to do in terms of shot-stopping. 6.5
David Murray: Held a fairly tight leash on Darren McCurry, keeping him to a single point and a fairly limited influence. 6.5
Sean Mullooly: Struggled to contain Cathal McShane, who got 15 shots off. Simply hadn’t got the physicality to keep his man out.
Conor Daly: Played as the sweeper in front of McShane and his positioning was good, shutting off the kick pass a lot of the time. 6.5
Niall Daly: Kicked a rousing first score from in front of the terrace. Kept coming forward down the right wing and won two further frees that were pointed. 6.5
Conor Hussey: Having had an excellent year, Hussey found he couldn’t get close to Niall Sludden. Hit him a drive with the shoulder on the throw-in, and that was as close as he got. 5
Ronan Daly: A quiet day going forward and struggled to get a good handle on Mattie Donnelly’s runs when the Tyrone man broke forward. 6
Tadhg O’Rourke: Drove at Tyrone early on but had Brian Kennedy testing him going the other way too, and indeed was turned over by Kennedy on a goal chance. Settled into it and was decent throughout. 6.5
Shane Killoran: Looked a real threat early on, as he has been all year. Landed a superb score early in the second half when kicking off balance, and hit the post with another effort.
Hubert Darcy: Ineffective first 20 minutes and then put in a lazy tackle to give a handy scoreable free to Tyrone. Whipped straight off.
Cathal Cregg: Went through the wars and kept driving at Tyrone, taking a bit of punishment towards the end of the first half. Tired in the second period and gave away a bad ball that led to a crucial score at 0-10 to 0-8. 6.5
Niall Kilroy: Played in a more advanced role and kept keen eyes on the surges of Michael Cassidy, but had limited good moments going forward. 6.5
Diarmuid Murtagh: Excellent. Took him 15 minutes to shake his way into it but caused plenty of bother for Rory Brennan thereafter and led the line superbly.
Conor Cox: Started off with life about him but ended up deflated by Ronan McNamee’s tight marking and the lack of space. Seemed to lose the legs in the second half. 6.5
Enda Smith: Caused Tyrone bother all day, with his powerful running proving a real thorn for them. Could maybe have squared the ball on his self-made goal chance.
Subs
Brian Stack: Made a good impact going forward and kicked a score, but lost Peter Harte a lot in the last 25 minutes. 6.5
Colin Compton: Struggled to make any real impact.
Donie Smith: Had one effort that he missed the target with.
Fintan Cregg: Limited impact after arriving into a dead game.
Andrew Glennon: Flicked a late point that he was unlucky not to hit the net with.
