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This game was a must win game for Down after a disappointing start to their Campaign and with Roscommon on 1pt in the division a win for them would have set them in good stead for the remaining games .
The game itself was delayed 15mins because of the huge numbers attending a St Patricks Day parade in the town Centre causing both officials and the Roscommon team to be delayed.
It was a fairly cold day with the breezee blowing down the pitch towards the Canal Terrace and Down started the half with the wind advantage .
Roscommon started the game looking the liveliest of the two teams and Down were not able to get out of their own half for the first five minutes but the Roscommon men were not able to convert their dominance into scores and were only able to get one score on the board despite all ther pressure that score coming from Gerry Fallon
Down did eventually settle into the game and with 2 points from Branniff and one each for Coyle and Danny Toner they began to ease into the game
Roscommon still held a strangle hold in midfield and added 2 point to their tally both coming from Adrain Murphy who was a late replacement for Cillian Egan .
Down then got a grip of the game and had a purple patch with points coming from Johnston, D Toner, Savage, and another 2 from Braniff sandwiched in between by a goal from Danny Toner when he out caught the defender and turned leaving him bearing down on the Roscommon net and he duly dispatced to the roof of the net with a great finish.
Roscommon did respond with scores from Kelly and Lawlor and Cathal Kelly they could not contain this Down side when they got into their stride and Down finished the half with points from Braniff and Johnston . Just before the sides went in for Halftime Down added their second goal a long ball was played in from Ciaran Coulter and as it rebounded of the upright Magic Johnston as he is fondly known was on hand to gather up the loose ball and finish superbly to the net leaving Down firmly in Control at the break
Down 2.12 Roscommon 0.09
Down Started the second half in similar fashion and with another four from Braniff were very much in control Roscommon to their credit kept plugging away and had a goal chance very well saved by Mc Nally in the Down goal and the resulting 65 was hit wide
Cathal Kelly who was playing quite well for Roscommon added a point for them to take them to 10 points but they would not score again until the last five minutes .
Down had two great scores from Michael Ennis who had eventually got a foothold at midfield and they also had points from Braniff 0.02 Johnston and Turley who had come on as a sub to stretch their lead
With five minutes remaining Roscommon had a goal and a 2points from Cathal Kelly who was their best player on the day
Down finished with a point from another one of their substitutions Paul Sheehan to wrap up the scoring and leave Down with their first points from this years Div 2b campaign
All in all a good result for Down and the game was won in the period before half time when they were totally in control of everything but the weather and even a torrential shower of hailstones before the halftime whistle could not spoil the party for them
Player of the Match would have to go to Paul Braniff who it must be said is a joy to watch when he is in this sort of form he scored 9tts from frees some of them 80yards from the opposing goal and his workrate and strength in comanding the centre half forward position was brilliant to see Paul also chipped in with three points from play This man could play on any hurling team in Ireland and not be overshadowed and his consistency over the game had much to do with Down gaining the points in this vital home game
Final Score: Down 2.24 Roscommon 1.12
Referee: John Keenan (Cill Mhantáin)
ROSCOMMON TEAM
01. Padraig Dolan
02 Ian Delaney
03 Dermot Shortt
04 Declan Leonard
05 Shane Curley
06 Micheál Kelly
07 Sean Melia
08. John Moran
09. Gerry Fallon 0.01
10. Jamie Lawlor 0.01
11. Declan Nolan
12 Cathal Kelly 1.06
13. Cormac Kelly 0.01
14. Ronan O'Meara
17 Adrain Murphy 0.03
DOWN TEAM
1 Paddy McNally
2 Matthew Conlan
3 Patrick Hughes
4 Conor O'Prey
5 Ben Toner
6 Ciaran Coulter
7 Fintan Conway
8 Andy Savage 0.01
9 Michael Ennis 0.02
23 Eoin Clarke
11 Paul Braniff © 12 pts
12 Kevin McGarry
13 Danny Toner 1,02
14 Gareth Johnston 1.03
15 James Coyle 0.02
subs Paul Sheehan 0.01 Michael Turley 0.01
Report: Paul Rooney
