Leitrim put rare one over on neighbours

Leitrim 1-13 Roscommon 0-10: A lively Leitrim provided a sparkling finale to their league campaign when they impressively defeated…

Leitrim 1-13 Roscommon 0-10: A lively Leitrim provided a sparkling finale to their league campaign when they impressively defeated neighbours Roscommon in an entertaining encounter before a 2,000 sell-out crowd at sunny Cloone yesterday.

The start was delayed by 10 minutes to accommodate the large crowd and the home fans were not disappointed as top scorer Michael Foley shot Leitrim into the lead with a pointed free after 45 seconds.

The sides traded points in the opening 20 minutes, although Leitrim squandered an abundance of possession to allow Roscommon stay in touch.

However, full forward Declan Maxwell found the net two minutes before half-time to give Leitrim a 1-5 to 0-6 lead at the break.

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Leitrim found their shooting boots on the resumption and led by six points midway through the half as Michael Foley punished a fragile Roscommon defence with a sequence of pointed frees.

LEITRIM: C McCrann; B McWeeney, M McGuinness, D McHugh; N Gilbane, S Foley, C Regan; C Carroll, G McCloskey; J Goldrick (0-1), B Prior; M Foley (0-8, seven frees), D Duignan (0-1), D Maxwell (1-2), D Brennan (0-1). Subs: D McKiernan for B Prior, J Glancy for M Foley.

ROSCOMMON: D Lennon; B McNeela, M Ryan, J Rogers; D Donnelly, C Beirne, I Kilbride; S O'Neill (0-1), M Finneran; G Cox (0-5, four frees), E Kenny (0-2), D Connellan; J Dunning, K Mannion (0-1), G Heneghan (0-1). Subs: E Towey for Donnelly, F Greahan for Dunning. N Dineen for Heneghan, S McDermott for Towey, B Higgins for O'Neill.

YELLOW CARDS: Leitrim - B Prior (70 mins). Roscommon - S O'Neill (70 mins).

Referee: A McAlynn (Derry)