Rebel renaissance continues as Roscommon run out of road

The Cork renaissance continues to gather pace as substitute Kevin O'Donovan fisted a dramatic late winner to dump Roscommon out of the All-Ireland championship at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

Davy Burke’s side had done brilliantly to come back from five points down to seemingly send an exciting contest towards extra-time, but when Conor Daly was penalised for overplaying the ball as Roscommon probed for an opening in the 73rd minute, Cork worked the ball downfield quickly and the Nemo Rangers player was hand to give John Cleary’s side another famous scalp against Division 1 opponents.

More importantly, it secured a place in the All-Ireland quarter-finals for the Munster side.

It was another heart-breaking defeat for the Rossies who lost out by the same margin six days earlier to Kildare, and their misery was completed when their marquee player Enda Smith was shown a straight red card during the game’s dying embers.

For the majority of the opening half, the visitors were in control as they reverted back to the game-plan that had served them so well earlier in the championship.

With Smith pulling the strings, they forced Cork to live off scraps and managed to quieten an expectant home crowd.

An early double from Ciaráin Murtagh gave the visitors a good start before Stephen Sherlock, who started in place of the injured Brian Hurley, got Cork off the mark in the fourth minute.

A precise Enda Smith pass played in Cian McKeon who was fouled by Cork goalkeeper Mícheál Aodh Martin and Diarmuid Murtagh converted the resultant free for his first point of the afternoon.

Brian O’Driscoll replied for Cork but a superb Enda Smith score, with the outside of his boot from the left wing, pushed Roscommon 0-04 to 0-02 ahead.

Sherlock narrowed the gap with