Roscommon GAA Discussion Thread

blowitupref

Roscommon league fixtures for 2026

Kerry (A)

Monaghan (H)

Armagh (H)

Galway (A)

Dublin (H)

Donegal (H)

Mayo (A)

rn

Two of the three weakest teams away from home. Tough ask to stay up.

megadodge

Comfortable win today for Brigids. By far the better team, despite some poor finishing at times.

I thought Ballina were only middling and representative of the drop in Mayo club standards in the last 10 years or so. And yet they still scored three goals. I mentioned after the county final replay that Brigids being cut open at the back for goal chances could cost them against better teams and after today I'm still of the same opinion.

Brigids certainly looked very dangerous every time they got the ball and some of their points from counter-attacks were textbook perfect. In this regard I thought Conor Hand was outstanding throughout.

Ben O'Carroll was outstanding at winning the ball and making space, but unfortunately his finishing is still not top-notch. Still a tough hour for any corner back.

Shane Cunnane continues to frustrate. On more than one occasion he chose to punch a ball he could easily have caught and for a big guy his fielding has always been suspect. His kicking from the hand is his strong point, but from the ground I think they should try Carroll instead. Even when Cunnane was lining up both long range frees from the ground I stated out loud that he was lining them up wrong and they were going to pull wide to the left. And that's exactly what happened. If I can see that from the stand, surely some kicking coach or just ordinary coach should be able to see it. He was eventually taken off and luckily Daly is a decent midfielder to have as a sub.

Anyway, the Connacht final has the look of a serious contest and there's no reason Brigids can't win it, but they need to be much more solid at the back.

blowitupref

Impressive 9 point win for Strokestown in the Intermediate Connacht final against Kilmeena in MacHale Park this afternoon.

megadodge

Brigid's showed their guts today, as they were in bother more than once, but just ground out the win against a physically very strong Moycullen side.

Hand was very impressive again, as was Rory Fallon, who did an excellent job on the normally influencial Cooke and then buried the goal that won the game.

I haven't seen a replay yet, but the goal looked very soft. Again! It seemed to be part of a very sluggish start from the entire team, but in fairness they improved as the game went on.

They need to sort the freekicks from the ground too as Cunnane just doesn't look comfortable on them. I think they should try Carroll, though his kickouts in the second half weren't particularly impressive either.

Anyway, well done and they are in with a good chance now to make up for the near-miss two years ago.

megadodge

As a Roscommon Gaels man, I have to mention the spectaular performance of our U20 team in the County Final against Michael Glaveys / Eire Og on Saturday.

This was rightfully regarded as a real 50/50 game beforehand. The same teams had met in the minor finals three and two years ago, with MG/EO winning two close tough matches. However, Saturday was an annihilation. The Gaels won by 14 points and were every bit as dominant as the score suggests.

A lot of people have been talking about Eoghan Carthy in recent years and he put in the sort of display that will long be remembered by those who saw it. A brilliant prospect.

His brother Rory was also impressive, as was young Sam Hannon, who is developing into a superb playmaker.

It was a great end to what has been a not-particularly good year for the club.

rossie1977

It's frustrating really watching our club teams dominate the best Mayo and Galway senior and intermediate clubs and yet we have struggled so badly (albeit the rare wins in 2017/19) against Mayo and Galway senior teams these past 3 decades. Next year will be 36 years since we last beat Galway in the Hyde in senior Championship and 25 years with Mayo :(

Bridgets yesterday completely nullified Sean Kelly yet had it been Roscommon vs Galway Kelly would have been allowed run riot, same with Cooke when he came on.

Conor Hand was absolutely fantastic yesterday, reminded me of his performance down in Cork in the league earlier this year. Fallon was immense both in defence (didn't give Cooke a second to breathe) and going forward.

Bridgets full back line looks weakest part of team but they have options to change it.

Congratulations to Strokestown too on their win last week. McGinley and Colm Neary the standouts. Would love to see McGinley in senior setup next season, he was incredible for u20s last season.

megadodge

Very good win today by Brigid's.

They showed outstanding defending at times, which has been their weak point all year. They obviously worked very hard at it in the last few weeks, because they gave almost no frees away inside the danger 2point area and forced numerous turnovers. It was a pleasure to see that type of discipline in a Roscommon team.

The whole half-back line were superb both defensively and offensively. Thank God Brian Stack was ok after that unbelievable catch and horrible landing. For a nanosecond I thought he could have broken his neck/shoulder with the angle he hit the ground. Not that it matters, but I thought Rory Fallon deserved the Man of the Match. He was superb throughout.

Pearse Frost is a big addition and he looked very solid considering how long he has been out.

Both midfielders played very well, which they needed to after an underwhelming Connacht final.

Conor Hand continues to impress. Every time he's on the ball, he gains large chunks of territory.

Brigid's just have so many scoring threats. All their players are comfortable on the ball. They support each other very well and aside from a few unnecessary forced plays towards the end, they tend to make good decisions on the ball.

I think they have a fine chance of taking the title.

Paddico

Very very quite on here considering the club All Ireland final on Sunday

megadodge

Heartbreaking loss for Brigid's last Sunday.

Considering they played so well for large parts of an all-time great club match and were in a winning position a number of times, it's hard to take. I really feel for them.

I still think the loss to Glen was worse, as Brigid's were obviously the better team for almost the entire match there, but somehow screwed it up in a few minutes. This time around it was near 50/50 and Dingle had to play superbly just to scrape past them.

Brigid's are an excellent team and very entertaining to watch, irrespective of who they're playing. The last thing they'll want to do for a few weeks is play football, but once things settle down again, they will get back in the saddle and will surely be strong contenders again next year.

theoneeyedman

First challenge is back to back County titles, no easy feat.