There was to be no championship shock across the Atlantic on Sunday evening, with Roscommon easily seeing off New York to kick off their Connacht campaign.

A routine victory was expected for Mark Dowd’s side heading into the game, with the Rossies having come off an impressive league campaign. So proved to be the case.

Roscommon would hit New York for five goals in the first half, leading by 19 points at the interval. Their scoring rate would slow down in the second half, although they would still win the game by an emphatic 5-22 to 1-10 scoreline.

Despite the routine victory, Roscommon do have one major concern on the back of this game.

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Explaining Controversial Roscommon Red Card Vs New York

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Roscommon are set to face Mayo in a Connacht semi-final later this month, but they could be without their biggest scoring threat for the game in Castlebar.

Daire Cregg was sent off late on in the first half of Sunday’s game for an apparent off the ball incident, with quite a bit of confusion surrounding the incident.

Late drama in NYC Daire Cregg sees red 🟥 before Senan Lambe curls over a beauty of a 2-pointer for @RoscommonGAA before the buzzer! #NYCVROS @AIB_GAA pic.twitter.com/J4hBwGN2SO

— GAA+ (@GAAPlusOfficial) April 12, 2026

The footage above makes it unclear when the red card offence took place, with Roscommon supporters criticising the decision as a result.

However, some more footage has emerged that may explain the call. It seems as though Cregg swung his elbow at the New York defender after the pair were tangled up in a tackle.

For clarity, this was Daire Cregg’s red card offence – swung his elbow into the head of the New York defender. https://t.co/q3JZgnH7ws pic.twitter.com/qIbW73pQH2

— Cormac O’Malley (@cormacpro) April 12, 2026

Roscommon manager Mark Dowd suggested after the game that his team would appeal the red card. The footage above would suggest that such a move may prove unsuccessful.

If that proves to be the case, the Rossie would be without Cregg for their trip to Castlebar later this month. That would be quite the blow to their chances of overcoming Mayo.

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