Roscommon and Derry draw as 18 cards are shown

Chaos was the order of the afternoon at Dr. Hyde Park as promotion-chasing Roscommon and Derry ended all square in a controversial contest.

For 45 minutes, it was an ordinary run-of-the-mill league game but by the end of it all referee Seán Lonergan had shown 14 yellow, two black and two red cards.

Niall Daly and Shane McGuigan were issued with red cards late on, and Derry were left to rue being without their talisman, who had been deadly accurate from frees and play, for the final moments as a 45-metre free to win the game was sent wide by midfielder Emmett Bradley.

The prize of promotion to Division One was partly responsible for the stalemate but with mini melees breaking out all over the field in the final 20 minutes, the officials had a near impossible task to keep a handle on proceedings.

Derry made the better start with a couple of excellent points from McGuigan.

But Roscommon gradually got to grips with their opponents, and three points in two minutes from captain Donie Smith and Conor Cox edged the home side ahead.

Enda Smith extended his side's lead after being picked out up the left wing by the excellent Brian Stack who, alongside Niall Kilroy and Eddie Nolan, was becoming more influential for the hosts. Then Niall Daly landed a spectacular point from distance to leave the Rossies 0-05 to 0-02 in front after 17 minutes.

A brilliant catch from Emmet Bradley allowed the Derry midfielder to open up the Roscommon defence, procuring a fine score for Benny Heron to narrow the gap to two points, but Eddie Nolan cancelled out that score, working his way in from the right wing and bisecting the posts.

Shane McGuigan and Donie Smith swapped frees before Roscommon goalkeeper Colm Lavin did brilliantly to deflect an effort from