We did get to see the liberation of a people. Yesterday afternoon in Ennis, the people of Roscommon took over Cusack Park, just as their minor football team did in the last quarter of a stirring All Ireland final replay.

Entering those last 15 minutes, Roscommon, for all their possession, trailed by a point, but they were not going to be denied. Instead, in front of 17, 382 people, they held Kerry scoreless for the remainder of the game while kicking five points themselves. If there is any consolation to Kerry, it is that over this past week, they contributed handsomely to two gripping games. Pat Spillane and Jack O'Shea have often said that nearly every senior classic seems to be a game Kerry lost. So it appears to be with minor epics.

Yesterday's first 20 minutes were a bit frenetic, mind.

While last Sunday everything seemed to go over the bar, everything, bar a free apiece, seemed to go wide. Both sets of backs were on top, with Roscommon's full back Paul Gleeson doing a particularly good job on Kerry's standout forward Paddy Curran, who had kicked six points from play last week. But then Kerry's midfield came into the game. After Curran had kicked a 20th-minute free to put Kerry a point up, David Moran won the subsequent kickout and passed it out to his midfield partner Tommy Walsh, who pointed a massive kick from 40 metres out.

Fathers Ogie and Sean rarely combined so sweetly.

Just before half-time though, we were treated to two delightful scores from play. The first came from Eoin Kennedy, son of manager John, whose craft had been troubling Roscommon all day.

But from the kickout Fintan Cregg gained possession and went on a stirring run. He was bumped to the ground, but he bounced up to swing over a great point to leave Roscommon 0-5 to 0-4 down at the break. Two minutes after the interval, the Roscommon crowd had even more to shout about. Though Conor Devaney's free dropped short, it was dropped by the up-tothen faultless Tomas Mac an tSaoir and amidst all the traffic around the square, O'Gara skocked it to the net.

Roscommon seemed to win every kickout and break for the first six or seven minutes after the break, but they wasted most of that good possession through some wayward passes and shots. And even when Devaney did pop over a point to push their lead out to a goal, Kerry's corner forwards, Kennedy and Gary Sayers, popped over a point apiece to leave Kerry only 1-5 to 0-7 behind. Walsh and Moran had now taken over, and midway through the second half Walsh kicked a fine point on the run to put Kerry ahead by one.

But Roscommon are relentless and within five minutes substitute Alan O'Hara kicked a point off his left to regain the lead. Then Donal Shine, whose kicking from play had been out of sorts, had the courage to try again and boomed over another point.

Again they were on top around the middle, with David Keenan having a phenomenal last quarter, but for every point they kicked, they'd kick two wides, leaving their supporters . . . and neutrals . . . chewing their nails off. Five minutes later though those supporters were cheering their heads off. And every neutral too.

KERRY T Mac an tSaoir; B Russell, M Moloney, D O Se; S Enright, A Greaney, B Costello; T Walsh (0-2), D Moran; P Curtin, G O'Driscoll, J Buckley; G Sayers (0-1), P Curran (0-4), E Kennedy (0-2). Subs D O'Shea for Buckley, half-time; S Browne for Costello, 37 mins; J Doolan for Curtin, 58 mins ROSCOMMON M Miley; P Domican, P Gleeson, S Ormsby; N Carty, D Flynn, C Garvey; D Keenan, D Shine (0-6, four frees); F Cregg (0-1), D O'Gara (1-1), C Devaney (0-1); P Garvey, J McKeague, CK Waldron. Subs C McHugh for McKeague, 39 mins; A O'Hara (01) for Garvey,46 mins Referee P Hughes (Armagh)