History-maker Diarmuid Murtagh leads way for high-scoring Rossies

A little bit of new money helped Diarmuid Murtagh achieve an incredible feat against Monaghan on Sunday, but when Roscommon fans assess their greatest attacking players, his body of work will take some beating.

The 2024 All-Star nominee hit a dozen points in the win against Monaghan, including four two-pointers. That took his overall tally to 19-333 and meant he has the distinction now of being Roscommon's highest-ever scorer.

The magic moment was typically classy, the player moving to the right touchline, feigning a run to the right, jinking back left to manufacture a foot of space ahead of Killian Lavelle to take possession and getting a left-footed effort away instantly, before Dylan Byrne could get across to close him down.

That the previous top scorer was the late Dermot Earley snr – considered by many to be the best player never to win an All-Ireland – speaks for itself with his record of 17-335 holding firm since his 1985 retirement, a time before Murtagh was even born.

Murtagh’s blistering scoring start to the 2025 Allianz Football League has included six two-pointers in his 0-25 haul and true, under old rules he would still be two points shy of Earley’s fantastic achievement, but it would only be delaying the inevitable by a round or two – and when all is said and done, he should hold quite the sizeable lead over Earley and maybe even his older brother Ciaráin, who sits third in the county's scoring charts.

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