Roscommon 1-12 Armagh 0-12
A second half penalty from Enda Smith made all the difference in Dr Hyde Park as Roscommon beat Armagh by three-points.
It was a fairly even game, but the goal gave the home side some breathing space and Armagh couldn’t close the gap.
Roscommon opened the scoring through full back Conor Daly before Rory Grugan pointed a free for the visitors, after Aaron McKay had been fouled.
Two Jason Duffy points were split by another Daly effort, while Rian O’Neill put Armagh 4-2 ahead.
Diarmuid Murtagh narrowed the gap with a free, which was soon cancelled out by the in-form Duffy.
The Cullyhanna man added his fourth of the half, bursting up the field from a turnover to slot the ball between the posts.
That put the Orchard three up, but Roscommon replied immediately. Ciaran Lennon, Enda Smith and Ciaran Murtagh (free) all scored to level things up.
A superb block by Lennon denied Tiernan Kelly a goal, but O’Neill eased over the resulting 45 to nudge Armagh ahead.
O’Neill then fisted another score, which was matched by a Robbie Dolan effort to leave Armagh one up at the break. 0-8 to 0-7.
Second half
Three quick fire scores from Ben O’Carroll and Diarmuid Murtagh (2) soon put the home side ahead.
Barry McCambridge shot up for a score, but his attempted block at the other end resulted in a Roscommon penalty.
Smith confidently fired low to the net and that handed the Rossies a four-point advantage heading into the final quarter.
O’Neill and Murnin raised white flags, but Daire Cregg pointed for Roscommon to restore their three-point lead.
It could have been more but for a brilliant Ethan Rafferty save to stop Conor Cox’s goal bound effort.
Grugan exchanged scores with O’Carroll as the referee called for the ball, with three the difference in the end.
