Roscommon GAA Discussion Thread

degzs · 19-01-2015 10:45pm

When and where will the game be against Galway ?

yabadabado · 19-01-2015 11:05pm

degzs wrote: »

When and where will the game be against Galway ?

This Sunday in Kiltoom at 2:15.

Syferus · 20-01-2015 11:10pm

Looking forward to the Galway game. Kiltoom has a quality pitch and is the right size for the FBD League so the atmosphere should be good. The visit of Cavan the week after is when our season starts, though.

Irish94 · 21-01-2015 1:28am

The pitch in Kiltoom has been quite poor for the past 6 months, compared to it's usual standards.

Syferus · 21-01-2015 3:31am

Irish94 wrote: »

The pitch in Kiltoom has been quite poor for the past 6 months, compared to it's usual standards.

Quality is a relative thing when the other county ground's pitch is so bad it won't be playable until some time in February or March.

manofwisdom · 21-01-2015 8:00am

Rawhead wrote: »

29 years Tom, 1986.

Wouldn't be 29 years until June 15th

To be precise

28 years
343 months
1,492 weeks
10,444 days
250,656 hours
15,039,360 minutes
902,361,600 seconds
Dog Years 125
Galapagos turtle Years 13

Cosmo Kramer · 21-01-2015 2:05pm

manofwisdom wrote: »

Wouldn't be 29 years until June 15th

To be precise

28 years
343 months
1,492 weeks
10,444 days
250,656 hours
15,039,360 minutes
902,361,600 seconds
Dog Years 125
Galapagos turtle Years 13

Very accurate! Next question, how long since the Roscommon seniors won a championship match in Croke Park?

Always_Running · 21-01-2015 5:34pm

Cosmo Kramer wrote: »

Very accurate! Next question, how long since the Roscommon seniors won a championship match in Croke Park?

In fairness Mayo had long wait themselves for a Croke park win as the 1989 semi final win against Tyrone was the first since 1951.

Syferus · 21-01-2015 6:02pm

The last time we won in Croke Park was nine months ago, in a final no less. Not that ye'd know much about doing that, Cosmos.

Cosmo Kramer · 22-01-2015 9:12am

Syferus wrote: »

The last time we won in Croke Park was nine months ago, in a final no less. Not that ye'd know much about doing that, Cosmos.

Well I've been there to see us do it (and not down in Division 3 either).

I suppose we could just get relegated a couple of times if we wanted to improve our chances.:P

Always_Running wrote: »

In fairness Mayo had long wait themselves for a Croke park win as the 1989 semi final win against Tyrone was the first since 1951.

That's true, incredible to think now that we only played seven championship games in Croke Park during that 38 year run (and none at all during the 70s).

Syferus · 22-01-2015 3:53pm

Not that incredible when you look at the Roscommon and Galway teams of that era, Cosmos. Everything goes in swings and roundabouts. Hopefully it's time for another swing this year.

nice_guy80 · 22-01-2015 5:53pm

Cosmo Kramer wrote: »

Well I've been there to see us do it (and not down in Division 3 either).

I suppose we could just get relegated a couple of times if we wanted to improve our chances.:P

That's true, incredible to think now that we only played seven championship games in Croke Park during that 38 year run (and none at all during the 70s).

during the 70's ye couldn't keep the the ball kicked out to Roscommon

Cosmo Kramer · 23-01-2015 2:03pm

nice_guy80 wrote: »

during the 70's ye couldn't keep the the ball kicked out to Roscommon

Changed times indeed.

Rawhead · 23-01-2015 5:31pm

As a Mayo man I welcome the return of a strong Roscommon team and hope Galway get back up to their previous place as well. A strong provincial championship is what everyone needs.
All going well we'll see ye in the final and we should both have a better idea of were the teams really are. It would be only the most blindly optimistic supporter who would read anything into a FBD game in mid January.

westsidestory · 23-01-2015 5:59pm

Mayo's Connacht record in the 70s is all the more improbable when you consider they won All Ireland minors in '66 & '71 (again in '78 but would hardly of affected seniors that decade) and 21s won in '67 and '74. The seniors also won a national league in '70.

From '52 up to '87 Mayo lost 14 Connacht finals and won a paltry 5.

From '88 to 2014 Mayo have lost 7 and won 14 Connachts ie 14/27

RoscommonTom · 24-01-2015 3:44pm

Looking forward to the final, would be mighty to win a trophy , should be a great crowd, will he play the lads who are on the u21 or not , does any one know how many of the minor team what win the all Ireland is playing for the seniurs now,

yabadabado · 24-01-2015 4:22pm

Under 21's beat Mayo 1-10 to 1-6 to win their Hasting Cup semi final.They scored 1-2 unanswered in the last 5 minutes.

Hulk Hands · 24-01-2015 4:29pm

Any team named for ye lads tomorrow yet?

rossie1977 · 24-01-2015 5:59pm

yabadabado wrote: »

Under 21's beat Mayo 1-10 to 1-6 to win their Hasting Cup semi final.They scored 1-2 unanswered in the last 5 minutes.

nice to win for sure but both ourselves and mayo left out the biggest guns like o'connor, gallagher, coen, patrick durcan while we left the likes of murtagh, enda smith and kieran kilcline. leitrim seriously improving at under 21 level given they took galway to extra time today and basically the last kick of the game.

i can't see roscommon making too many changes tomorrow personally. cathal shine will replace Ian Kilbride in midfield if fit while ronan stack might fill for donie smith if evans decides on a more defensive approach but our options are limited with injuries. the team that started against mayo was as follows:

D. O’Malley; S. McDermott, N. Carty, N. Collins; B. Murtagh, N. Daly, C. Cafferky; I. Kilbride, M. Healy; M. Nally, D. Smith, E. Smith; D. Murtagh, S. Kilbride, C. Murtagh.

Syferus · 24-01-2015 6:21pm

Hulk Hands wrote: »

Any team named for ye lads tomorrow yet?

Haha.. us naming a team. Good one, Hulk Hands

Maybe when someone gets a hold of the match program tonight or tomorrow morning.

Syferus · 25-01-2015 6:40pm

Good win in the FBD final today. Very good second half after not playing well in the first. Congrats to Croans for making the AI Intermediate final too.

Good start to the season but if we don't beat Cavan next week we put ourselves behind the eight ball in terms of staying up.

RoscommonTom · 25-01-2015 7:33pm

Pure mighty today, great crowd there and every one in great form after winning the trophy, well done to the team , great start to the year beating mayo and galway,

megadodge · 25-01-2015 11:29pm

Good win today and I'm a big believer in winning being a habit and I believe this Roscommon team are developing that winning habit.

It didn't look hectic at half-time, with only a one point lead having played with a strong wind, especially when Galway looked very comfortable in possession and had scored a number of very impressive points. But it really was a case of 'goals win games'. The four goals were super efforts, really well finished with some excellent support play in all buildups.

Ciaran Murtagh was a deserved MOM and Enda Smith's direct running caused lots of problems. As usual our full-back line were very solid.

The old chestnut of not winning breaking ball in midfield was obvious in the first half, but in fairness wasn't an issue in the second. Cathal Shine was reasonable in midfield, but needs a regular partner. I'm not convinced Ian Kilbride is an inter-county midfielder.

Anyway, next week is more important, but it's better to be going in on the back of two solid wins than losses.

Syferus · 26-01-2015 12:31am

Ian is just filling in in the middle, Cathal had a knock the last day, or he was just rotated out to give Ian a run. This week Mark Healy wasn't even named on the bench after a good performance against two very good midfielders last week, I assume he was injured.

Coupled with Donie and Higgins out injured and Harney just making his debut today after his own minor injuries our options in the middle were pretty compressed today. Hopeful that Healy isn't seriously injured. Mark Nally can play midfield too, indeed it's probably his best position.

RoscommonTom · 26-01-2015 10:52pm

Is the under 21 s on this Saturday, will he play the lads from the seniours or save them for Sunday

yabadabado · 26-01-2015 11:25pm

Yeah its on Saturday.

RoscommonTom · 26-01-2015 11:48pm

yabadabado wrote: »

Yeah its on Saturday.

Sound out, thanks

rossie1977 · 27-01-2015 5:38pm

the likes of diarmuid murtagh and enda smith should play no part for the under 21s this weekend. those guys are definite starters come championship time in march so we need to see if the likes of mcgann, walsh, finn, killoran etc are up to the task at this level.

personally i wouldn't play kilcline or ronan daly either because both of those are certs to start in the championship as well. ultan harney needs game time so he probably needs at least a half on saturday

nice_guy80 · 27-01-2015 6:50pm

at this stage winning the Hastings Cup isn't important

they've got 4 good games out of it to sharpen up players. Now the serious stuff starts

rossie1977 · 31-01-2015 4:36pm

roscommon won under 21 hastings cup for a second year in a row beating galway on a score of 2-21 to 1-11 this afternoon.

great second half performance by our lads and ultan harney was outstanding. enda smith or diarmuid murtagh played no part in todays match as both will start for the seniors against cavan.

Syferus · 31-01-2015 5:20pm

Excellent stuff. Good competition for places in the U21 team. Sligo are visiting us in the Connacht semi in six weeks, after last year we cannot dare overlook them. One match at a time, but these lads are good and Mark Dowd is a good manager too. Good to see Frankie getting involved at underage too.

TimRiggins · 01-02-2015 1:07am

Great stuff from the U21s.

A loss tomorrow would be a disaster for the seniors, and for once we're actually being touted to go up, been a long time since we've played Division 1 football.

The FBD league was promising and we've looked to improve our forward play and fluidty since last year.

There's plenty of good young footballers in the county, Ultan Harney with 6 points from play surely staked his claim for a start.

Lojak · 01-02-2015 10:08am

Does anyone know if it will be possible to get a ticket at the ground today?

nice_guy80 · 01-02-2015 11:02am

TimRiggins wrote: »

Great stuff from the U21s.

A loss tomorrow would be a disaster for the seniors, and for once we're actually being touted to go up, been a long time since we've played Division 1 football.

The FBD league was promising and we've looked to improve our forward play and fluidty since last year.

There's plenty of good young footballers in the county, Ultan Harney with 6 points from play surely staked his claim for a start.

The likes of Harney, Compton and Corcoran need to be minded. They are big lads and pick up injuries due to the attention they attract.

Too much football too young is not good for lads. If we're serious about winning titles in the long term.

megadodge · 01-02-2015 9:29pm

After last week's impressive win, my hopes were high today against Cavan, but to be totally honest Roscommon were lucky to come out of Kiltoom today with a draw.

Firstly the positives - the full-back line were excellent as usual, with Collins continuing to dominate every opponent he faces. The full-forward line looked dangerous with Senan as sharp as I've seen him in a long time.

However, there were two major negatives - 1. THE F*CKING BREAKING BALL AT MIDFIELD!!! Jesus, I'm sick to the teeth of this issue. It has been dogging Roscommon football for years and although there seemed to have been improvements made in the last 18 months, it was back with a vengeance today. There was very obviously very, very little ball being caught or even attempting to be caught - and this is normal in the modern game - so why the hell did Roscommon win just one breaking ball in the first half by my reckoning? There is no excuse for this.
2. The amount of turnovers Roscommon gave away was really, really disappointing. The support play that was so impressive last week was evident up to a point (mainly in the Roscommon half), but once the ball reached the Cavan 45 (and I appreciate Cavan's defensive setup) Roscommon seemed to dither and dally and there were a lot of dropped balls and misplaced handpasses that left a very frustrated feeling watching.

I have to say also that if I was from Cavan I would have been very unimpressed with the referee. Roscommon got a number of very soft frees, with one in particular where Cathal Shine came in with the boot on a Cavan player who was going down to pick the ball, but the Cavan player ended up being booked when Cathal went down 'injured' had everyone around me scratching their head. I honestly thought Shine should have been booked! Roscommon got a few soft frees which kept them ahead, but without these, I have no doubt they would have lost. So, next week in Down is going to be tough if they play like this.

RoscommonTom · 01-02-2015 9:33pm

megadodge wrote: »

After last week's impressive win, my hopes were high today against Cavan, but to be totally honest Roscommon were lucky to come out of Kiltoom today with a draw.

Firstly the positives - the full-back line were excellent as usual, with Collins continuing to dominate every opponent he faces. The full-forward line looked dangerous with Senan as sharp as I've seen him in a long time.

However, there were two major negatives - 1. THE F*CKING BREAKING BALL AT MIDFIELD!!! Jesus, I'm sick to the teeth of this issue. It has been dogging Roscommon football for years and although there seemed to have been improvements made in the last 18 months, it was back with a vengeance today. There was very obviously very, very little ball being caught or even attempting to be caught - and this is normal in the modern game - so why the hell did Roscommon win just one breaking ball in the first half by my reckoning? There is no excuse for this.
2. The amount of turnovers Roscommon gave away was really, really disappointing. The support play that was so impressive last week was evident up to a point (mainly in the Roscommon half), but once the ball reached the Cavan 45 (and I appreciate Cavan's defensive setup) Roscommon seemed to dither and dally and there were a lot of dropped balls and misplaced handpasses that left a very frustrated feeling watching.

I have to say also that if I was from Cavan I would have been very unimpressed with the referee. Roscommon got a number of very soft frees, with one in particular where Cathal Shine came in with the boot on a Cavan player who was going down to pick the ball, but the Cavan player ended up being booked when Cathal went down 'injured' had everyone around me scratching their head. I honestly though Shine should have been booked! Roscommon got a few soft frees which kept them ahead, but without these, I have no doubt they would have lost. So, next week in Down is going to be tough if they play like this.

How did the forwards play. I couldn't make it to the match today or yesterday because of the calving, home against Cavan is really a match we should be winning

Syferus · 02-02-2015 12:46am

Game was crying out for a fit Donie or Higgins, the later of whom dominated the two meaningful Cavan games last year.

Midfield was malfunctioning and it had as much to do with the support players as Shine or Healy, the later of whom actually showed quite well in play for someone making his competive debut.

Donie warmed up but didn't come on. You'd hope that if the midfield is acting up on Saturday he'll be fit enough to come on, that is assuming he doesn't get thrown straight in from the off.

megadodge · 02-02-2015 2:08am

Syferus wrote: »

Game was crying out for a fit Donie or Higgins, the later of whom dominated the two meaningful Cavan games last year.

Midfield was malfunctioning and it had as much to do with the support players as Shine or Healy, the later of whom actually showed quite well in play for someone making his competive debut.

Donie warmed up but didn't come on. You'd hope that if the midfield is acting up on Saturday he'll be fit enough to come on, that is assuming he doesn't get thrown straight in from the off.

That's my whole point. Although one of their midfield players did score either 3 or 4 points from play, the inability of the half lines to win any breaking ball was just a much bigger problem. The breaking ball is not the midfielders' responsibility, they're usually the ones contesting for it in the air.

Healy did quite well overall. Long term he has the size and footballing ability to play in midfield, it's just the ongoing injury problem. Was talking to his mother beforehand and I think it's a case of keep the fingers crossed.

yabadabado · 07-02-2015 9:52pm

Roscommon 1-15 Down 1-11
Huge win for Roscommon tonight,really wasn't expecting to get a result in Newry,Down went unbeaten at home last year.
Some wonderful performance and when the pressure was on in the second half they really dug deep.Hope Ros can push on from tonight and get a few more good wins and secure Div 2 football .

Syferus · 08-02-2015 12:31am

Great result and three points heading into the three week break leaves us in quite a good space in the table and in our own heads. But for stepping off Down for a 10-15 minute spell in the second half the result could have been alot easier but the likes of Cregg and Donie Smith coming on injected us with purpose again and saw us through relatively comfortably.

Megadodge, I assume Healy's injuries were acting up again, didn't feature today at all. He's put up good shows against Mayo and Cavan but has missed the games the following week in each case. Hopefully the three week break will allowing him and our other players nearing fitness to be ready to go for the Meath game.

davegrohl48 · 08-02-2015 8:17am

That was a huge result for Roscommon. Looking in on Kildare/Meaths form I believe both of those are beatable. I'd fancy the Roscommon forwards to take both their defences. Promotion whisper it quietly is a real possibility. I had Ros picked for a win. Think Cavan are decent n Down played poor for most of the Kildare game.

Jampip · 08-02-2015 10:05am

davegrohl48 wrote: »

That was a huge result for Roscommon. Looking in on Kildare/Meaths form I believe both of those are beatable. I'd fancy the Roscommon forwards to take both their defences. Promotion whisper it quietly is a real possibility. I had Ros picked for a win. Think Cavan are decent n Down played poor for most of the Kildare game.

Galway could be the dark horses in Division 2 for promotion I think. I expect them to go top today with a win against Westmeath.

It's going to be a tight division and I still think there'll be a few surprise results like there was in the opening weekend. A lot of counties still have players to come back so could improve after the 3 week break.

Westmeath, Laois and possibly Down for relegation.

nice_guy80 · 08-02-2015 10:42am

great win. Can we push on. I really think the Kiltoom pitch is going to hold us back.
We'd be getting a good crowd into the Hyde.
I think people are underestimating Westmeath.

yabadabado · 08-02-2015 12:00pm

nice_guy80 wrote: »

great win. Can we push on. I really think the Kiltoom pitch is going to hold us back.
We'd be getting a good crowd into the Hyde.
I think people are underestimating Westmeath.

Why do you think the Kiltoom pitch will hold us back?

I can't see us getting a good crowd in d Hyde, 2 or 3 thousand is lost in the Hyde whereas in Kiktoom that crowd creates a much better atmosphere.We would be getting similar attendances no matter where we play.

Jampip · 08-02-2015 12:53pm

nice_guy80 wrote: »

great win. Can we push on. I really think the Kiltoom pitch is going to hold us back.
We'd be getting a good crowd into the Hyde.
I think people are underestimating Westmeath.

Westmeath didn't win a competitive game last year in 8 matches between league and championship.

They played a weak Cavan team missing 8/9 players in the qualifiers and lost. You saw what Roscommon did to that Cavan team two weeks later in Breffni.

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater · 08-02-2015 1:08pm

yabadabado wrote: »

Why do you think the Kiltoom pitch will hold us back?

I can't see us getting a good crowd in d Hyde, 2 or 3 thousand is lost in the Hyde whereas in Kiktoom that crowd creates a much better atmosphere.We would be getting similar attendances no matter where we play.

You're right about the crowd, 2,500 or thereabouts is probably as much a crowd is going to turn up for a normal league game regardless of whether it's Kiltoom or the Hyde. Kiltoom is a much tighter pitch however, which doesn't suit our style of play as well as the likes of the wide expanses of a bigger pitch like the Hyde or Pairc Esler. I was in Kiltoom last Sunday and can't say that the atmosphere wasn't that great that it generated an advantage for Roscommon.

Syferus · 08-02-2015 1:55pm

It was ten times better than the Hyde in terms of atmosphere. Simple volume can tell you the crowds we get are better suited to a Kiltoom rather than the Hyde. 3k is no home advantage at all in the cavernous Hyde. We should be playing all our league games in Kiltoom.

If anyone thinks the swampy pitch at the Hyde suits our game better than a decent pitch in Kiltoom then you've either never even walked on the Hyde's pitch in February/March or talked to the players. Size matters for nothing when the pitch is soft and greasy. Players and supporters hate the Hyde at this stage.

Any opportunity to avoid playing there should be taken - our record at all levels is far better in Kiltoom than the Hyde.

nice_guy80 · 08-02-2015 2:10pm

I remember Roscommon getting 5000+ vs the Dubs back in the day in the Hyde.

yabadabado · 08-02-2015 2:52pm

nice_guy80 wrote: »

I remember Roscommon getting 5000+ vs the Dubs back in the day in the Hyde.

I remember being at a game between the sides around 2000 and it had a good atmosphere and big attendance.Huge Dublin crowd traveled as well,it was one of the only times I can remember a big crowd around from an opposing side the night before.

If we got into Div 1 I could see us getting much larger crowds for the league games but at this time I think Kiltoom is much better suited to our needs.
1500- 2000 in Kiltoom is a much better atmosphere than similar or double the crowd in the Hyde.

SureYWouldntYa · 08-02-2015 5:08pm

Real pity about the 3 week break. No chance to build on the momentum of the big away win

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