Cork 1-14 Roscommon 0-15CORK MADE their belated entry to this year's Allianz NFL Division Two a profitable one. A successful raid on Kiltoom saw Conor Counihan's team just about get enough on the board in a wind-assisted first half, before they played some smart football into the breeze.
Donncha O'Connor redeemed an afternoon of wayward shooting by expertly taking the crucial goal in the 62nd minute.
It turned out to be their last score, but the six-point margin turned out to be too much for Roscommon to unravel.
Manager John Maughan was disgruntled at the loss of a good opportunity to pick up points, which leaves his team with one point out of three.
"I don't think that was the way to lose a game," he said. "We had several opportunities first and second half where we should have scored. We then gave away a soft goal on a cheap turnover and we were punished. I'm very disappointed."
For Cork this was a hugely gratifying afternoon. Without a proper pre-season after the turbulence of recent months, and without a competitive match since the All-Ireland final nightmare, the team, featuring 11 from that day, hit the ground running, and, even if there were plenty of ragged interludes, they did enough to begin the season on a positive note.
At times their defence was caused real trouble by some lively Roscommon forward play, and with Graham Canty and Ger Spillane shuttling between full back and centre back to - at times - unconvincing effect, the pressure built.
In an echo of the All-Ireland selection controversy, Daniel Goulding this time started at right corner forward and paid his way with seven points out of eight attempts, one of which would have been a goal but for a good save from Geoffrey Claffey to tip the ball over the bar.
Cork left out Kevin McMahon because of a training injury and Conor McCarthy came in at wing forward. The juggling didn't stop there, as less than 10 minutes into the match veteran wing back Anthony Lynch had to be helped off with what appeared a knee injury.
Happily, the injury was later confirmed as a gash down the leg and not something that could, as initially feared, potentially end his career.
For the first 20 minutes the match ebbed and flowed and Roscommon would have been happy to be level, 0-5 each, playing into the wind and already making substantial inroads into a shaky Cork defence.
Johnny Dunning took Canty for two early points and the attack moved with confidence and bite.
At the back, there were a couple of startling early interventions by centre back Enda Kenny, who caught two balls in the air over the imposing Pearse O'Neill, who would, however, more than balance the books as the match progressed.
His height was eventually put to good use, and, with Nicholas Murphy and Alan O'Connor well on top at centrefield, Cork took a firm grip on primary possession.
But the rot for Roscommon set in during the last 15 minutes before the break when the home side was outscored by 0-5 to 0-1 to leave the All-Ireland finalists with a heftier half-time lead than seemed likely for most of the opening 35 minutes.
Roscommon had chances, but Gary Cox, having been invited on a driving solo run by the Cork defence, rewarded their faith by kicking the ball extravagantly wide.
Cox atoned at the start of the second half when, together with Ger Heneghan, who finished with six points including five frees, he cut the margin in half. But the first concerns that Roscommon's prospects mightn't simply be a matter of harnessing the wind and waiting for the unpractised opposition to flag came when O'Neill rattled off two points in as many minutes to restore the half-time advantage.
Playing into the wind Cork used the ball well and kept the margin to three or four. Michael Cussen, whose touch had been clumsy when winning ball in the first half at full forward, moved deeper and made an impact around the middle where Roscommon were badly missing Séamus O'Neill.
The vital blow fell in the 62nd minute when Cussen, in attack, laid off the ball to Donncha O'Connor who drifted left before cutting in and crisply hitting the ball into the far corner.
Roscommon finished the stronger, but could only make that worth four points.
Kieran O'Connor got the line for a second yellow card in injury-time, but the match played out with Cork holding possession in attack, as the clock ran down.
CORK: A Quirke; D Duggan, G Canty, K O'Connor; N O'Leary, G Spillane, A Lynch; N Murphy, A O'Connor; J Miskella (0-1), P O'Neill (0-3), C McCarthy (0-1); D Goulding (0-7, 4f), M Cussen, D O'Connor (1-1, point a free). Subs: O Sexton (0-1) for Lynch (9 mins), S O'Donoghue for O'Leary (50 mins), J Hayes for Cussen (68 mins).
ROSCOMMON: G Claffey; P O'Connor, A McDermott, A Murtagh; D O'Gara, E Kenny, S McDermott; M O'Carroll, K Mannion; G Cox (0-2, 1f), F Dolan (0-2), C Cregg; S Kilbride (0-1), J Dunning (0-2), G Heneghan (0-6, 5f). Subs: D Keenan for Murtagh (34 mins), C Devanney (0-2, frees) for Cox (60 mins), M Finneran for Cregg (66 mins).
Referee: E Murtagh (Longford).
