Naos Connaughton was a dominant influence for Roscommon today, scoring 1-2 and setting up several other scores.

Allianz National Hurling League Division 3A

ROSCOMMON 2-20                       ARMAGH 0-6

Kevin Egan at Dr. Hyde Park

Roscommon will travel to Clontibret in Monaghan with their fate in their own hands next Saturday afternoon, after they made short work of Armagh to record their first win of this year’s Allianz Hurling League this afternoon.

This was comfortably the best performance from the team this year in just their second game since Seamus Qualter took over as manager, and while Armagh offered little resistance in the opening 12 minutes and almost none following that point, when corner back Barry Short was dismissed for a swinging hurl directed at Naos Connaughton, Roscommon can also take a lot of credit for a performance that was full of intent, intensity and quality.

Eoin Fitzgerald was the star of the show in the opening half, popping two excellent points and getting on a huge amount of ball in the middle third of the field, while Connaughton also made a tremendous impact up front, both as a primary receiver of the ball and as a distributor, bringing other Roscommon attackers into the game around him.

Three well-struck long-range points from Eamon Flanagan helped Roscommon to lead by 0-14 to 0-3 at half-time, and with no wind advantage to speak of, there was little doubt, even at that early stage, about the likely result.

Roscommon got off to a perfect start in the second half too, with Connaughton sweeping home a goal from close range after Conor Mulry’s initial effort was blocked, while at the end of a drab second half where neither side really got any fluency going, the big St. Dominic’s man turned provider for the second Roscommon goal, feeding Mulry and setting up a simple finish for the Four Roads player

For a full report, match details and reaction from this game, be sure to pick up Tuesday’s Roscommon Herald.