Burke off to winning start as Rossies overhaul Sligo to reach FBD final

Roscommon 3-17 Sligo 2-13

Davy Burke's Roscommon reign got off to a winning start as they overhauled a half-time deficit to beat Sligo by seven points at the University of Galway Connacht GAA Air Dome.

Two second half goals from Keith Doyle saw the Rossies canter home against a Sligo team rocked by the red card shown to Donal Conlon shortly after the restart.

Roscommon led 0-05 to 0-02 early on, Diarmuid Murtagh, who racked up 0-05 in total among the scorers. The two sides swiftly traded goals, Sean Carrabine firing home a rebound to level the game before Ben O'Carroll restored Roscommon's advantage.

Sligo, however, came strong in the second quarter, Carrabine and full-forward Paddy O'Connor to the fore. When Pat Spillane was fouled inside the penalty area on the half-hour mark, O'Connor slotted home the penalty.

Tony McEntee's side led 2-09 to 1-09 heading in at the break but they would add just four points in the second '35. Conlon's sending off hardly helped, the Geevagh corner-forward being shown a second yellow on 40 minutes.

The Rossies had edged in front by the final 10 minutes, when Doyle's first goal put clear daylight between the sides.

They were coasting from there, Doyle finding the net again deep in injury-time to put a further gloss on the scoreline and push his tally to 2-02.

The Division 1 outfit progress to next weekend's final, where the winners of Saturday's Galway-Mayo encounter await.