Roslea Shamrocks 3-08 Ederney 1-11

In what was the proverbial game of two halves the ability of Roslea to score goals proved the difference between the sides with their two goals in the first half keeping them in touch with a rampant Ederney side.
Roslea trailed by four at the break on a score of 2-02 to 1-09 with Ederney’s Paul McCusker proving impossible to tie down in the full forward line.
After the game Roslea manager Brian Gormley was his usual candid self; “I thought we were very poor at times in the first half and the two goals kept us in the game. Ederney were very very sharp and scored with almost every shot;” he said before reflecting on the improvement in his side in the second half;
“We got things going well in the second half though and that was good to see. Our tackling and intensity all over the pitch was just far better and we played some good football.”
Turning his attention to the semi final and their pending clash with Derrygonnelly Gormley is under no illusions as to the size of the task.
“They are the team to beat at the end of the day. Defending champions and we will have to play an awful lot better than we did in the first half if we are to be able to compete but we are there anyway and have a bit of time to try and improve on things.”
The quarter final played in Tempo saw Chris Snow bomb over a long distance free for Ederney to get the scoring going before McCusker added his first score of the day as his side were starting the much brighter of the two teams.
But as is they have done so often Roslea hit with a goal against the run of play. Niall Cassidy doing well to play the ball across the square to Sean Quigley and after a neat dummy on his marker he made no mistake.
Enda Cassidy and Ryan Morris restored the Ederney lead with two quick points and Morris in particular was providing ample support to McCusker in the Ederney attack. Mickey Cassidy’s men held a one point advantage mid way through the half with Connor Quigley, who was excellent in the Roslea defence throughout, hitting a score for the Shamrocks. With 1-01 on the board Roslea then added their second goal with Sean Quigley chasing a lost cause to keep an attempted shot from brother Seamus in play and when he flicked it back across the goal Niall Cosgrove was on hand to finish.
To their credit Ederney recovered from this second hammer blow to produce some real quality football and they hit 1-05 to just a single point for the remainder of the half. Mark McCauley was among the points with that man McCusker hammering home a super goal following a pass from Cassidy. McCusker added points with Snow getting his second of the game with a monstrous free from all of sixty yards.
At the break Ederney were in much the better position but crucially they were only to score two points in the second half and they were to be scoreless for 26 minutes. This was all despite the fact that Roslea had Niall Cassidy sent off early into the resumption for a second yellow card.
It was the Shamrocks who would play with all the purpose and drive and this was provided in particular by midfielder Kevin Cosgrove. Cosgrove won a mountain of ball around the middle and he also provided his side’s third goal of the game with a powerful run from midfield going unchecked by the Ederney defence and he made no mistake in dispatching to the net.
By that stage Brendan Sherlock, Seamus Quigley and Sean Quigley had all scored to reduce the margin to the bare minimum. Cosgrove goal out them two points to the good and while Declan McCusker hit a free kick for Ederney Roslea responded with points with Sean Quigley free kicks to put the game beyond doubt with McCusker adding a free in the fifth minute of injury time.