An injury time goal and two late points saw Roscommon fall to an opening day Allianz hurling league division 2B defeat to Donegal in Letterkenny.
Ronan McDermott’s goal in the second minute of injury drew Donegal level with points from Sean McVeigh and Declan Qualter sealing the 1-13 to 1-11 victory.
The fixture was a first outing for the home side in the division after they gained promotion in March of last year with victory over Armagh.
As would have been expected after such a long lay-off, the opening quarter of this game saw both teams just getting back into competitive mode, with initial first touches a little loose and players getting use to the competitive nature of the challenges.
Donegal started the brighter with Declan Coulter firing over two quick points in the opening minute, but was also guilty of missing a number of frees as well as a penalty before the half-time whistle.
Having gone two down, Roscommon replied with points from Cathal Kenny and Jack Lohan, the corner forward in particular lighting up the increasingly dull afternoon with his pacey runs from the corner which was causing the Donegal rear guard all sorts of difficulties in the opening 35 minutes.
Cathal Dolan put the Rossies one up after six mins before Coulter who finished with nine in total had the home side ahead by one on the 11th minute.
The first of three penalties came in the 12th minute, when Conor Mulry fielded brilliantly inside the large square from a long ball in and a combination of Donegal goalkeeper Luke White and full-back Stephen Gillespie saw Mulry dragged to the ground, Gillespie saw the sin bin for his part in the foul.
Dolan duly dispatched the penalty, even with White guessing the right way but just not getting to the pace off it. That would be telling in the second-half.
Roscommon had an opportunity to raise a second green flag, but White pulled off a great save with Dolan knocking over the resulting 65.
The sides exchanged points as the game headed into injury time, but there was to be more drama before the half-time whistle as Declan Coulter was fouled as he came in along the end line on an attack on the Roscommon goal.
Paul Dolan became the first player for Roscommon but the second in the game to see the sin bin as he was shown the pointed finger by the Antrim referee Colm Gunning.
Donegal failed however to capitalise on the effort as Coulter blazed the penalty wide, in the eye of a strong wind which was backed by a brief downpour of rain.
There was a chance for one more passage of play with Cathal Dolan putting three between the sides as he fired over to leave it 1-7 to 0-7 at the break.
Similar to the first half, it was Declan Coulter who opened the scoring for Donegal inside the opening 10 seconds and that was quickly followed by a point by Gerry Gilmore to leave one between them.
Roscommon earned their second penalty of the encounter when Cathal Dolan was fouled after been brilliantly played in by Jack Lohan.
It was a tackled that resulted in another sin binning as Gavin Brown took a 10 minute break. Having guessed the right way but failed to reach the first penalty, Luke White again guessed the right way and this time got a strong hurl to the ball knocking it out for a 65, which was missed.
The game entered a frantic period of opportunities with the sides exchanging scores and misses alike.
Conor Mulry put two between them with Coulter reducing it back to one just as quick. Heading into injury time, points from Cathal Dolan and Cathal Kenny looked like the Rossies were weathering the storm and set to take the league points, Donegal however had other ideas as they threw caution to the wind and a scramble in the large square saw Ronan Mc Dermott eventually finish to the back of the net.
It brought the sides level, but the home team could now smell victory as they went looking for the winner and when it came it was a massive effort from sub Niall Cleary who fired one over with the aid of the breeze from almost his own 65.
Roscommon had a chance to counter and take a share of the spoils, but Declan Coulter had a massive say for Donegal, tagged on his ninth and final effort to ensure the points stayed at home, in what was perhaps a classic example of a smash and grab as Donegal won out 1-13 to Roscommon's 1-11
Roscommon: Enda Lawless, Paul Dolan, Darren Fallon, Sean Trundel, Darragh Heavy, Oisin Kelly, Peter Kellehan, Ben Mc Gahon, Cathal Dolan, Eoin Coyle, Cathal Kenny, Naos Connaughton, Jack Lohan, Conor Mulry, Gearoid Eagan.
Scorers: C Dolan 1-6 (1- 65, 1f, 1 Penalty), C Kenny 0-3, Jack Lohan 0-1, Conor Mulry 0-1
Subs used: Eoghan Costello for Darragh Heavey, Cillian Eagan for Oisin Kelly, Shane Naughton for Eoin Coyle Connell Kennelly for Gearoid Eagan
Donegal: Luke White, Gavin Brown, Stephen Gillespie, Mark Callaghan, Christopher Mc Dermott, Sean Mc Veigh, Michael O’Donaghue, Declan Coulter, Ciaran Matthewson, Danny Cullen, Richie Ryan, Jack O’Loughlin, Bernard Lafferty, Ronan Mc Dermott, Gerry Gilmore.
Scorers: D Coulter 0-9, Niall Cleary 0-1, R.McDermott 1-1, G Gilmore 0-2
Subs used: Conor Grady for Ciaran Matthewson, Niall Cleary for Richie Ryan, Oisin Grant for Bernard Lafferty, Padraig Doherty for Michael O’Donaghue.
Referee: Colum Cunning (Antrim)
