Roscommon GAA Discussion Thread

SureYWouldntYa

Would we be like Westmeath in Division 1 though ? Obviously promotion was the aim for the next few years but I'd almost prefer another year in Division 2, almost mind

nice_guy80

Frick it, if we're good enough, lets go up.

Always_Running

Since relegation to div 4 in April 2010 Roscommon have been making a steady rise. First U21 Connacht title for over a decade was won in 2010 IMO that has greater value than any minor title and club football has greatly improved with Brigids,Croans,Fuerty contesting All Irelands strong club football leads to a stronger county team.

With the talent currently there and coming through it will be interesting to see where Roscommon seniors will be in 5 years time. I think a top 6 division one side capable of winning knock out championship games in Croke park is well within their reach.

TimRiggins

What are our realistic goals for the Championship?

Connaght title and a good showing in the quarter final?

yabadabado

Avoid relegation from Div 2,a good showing in Connacht championship with a final appearance and a win in CP would be excellent. Been too long since we won a championship game in CP.
Not asking for much but I really do think that has to be the minimum aim.

rossie1977

TimRiggins wrote: »

What are our realistic goals for the Championship?

Connaght title and a good showing in the quarter final?

To win a connacht we would either have to win in salthill which we haven't done since the refurbishment back in 2001 or win in castlebar (against mayo at senior) which we haven't done sine 1986!!

megadodge

rossie1977 wrote: »

To win a connacht we would either have to win in salthill which we haven't done since the refurbishment back in 2001 or win in castlebar (against mayo at senior) which we haven't done sine 1986!!

So what!!

If that's what needs to be done, go do it.
Your kind of thinking is what keeps people down.

nice_guy80

concentrate on beating the neighbours first.
then we can worry about Croke Park.

yabadabado

I think a huge advantage to the underage success is these young lads aren't afraid of going to Castlebar and Salthill.Lads on the team now are used to winning which can only be a good thing.

TimRiggins

rossie1977 wrote: »

To win a connacht we would either have to win in salthill which we haven't done since the refurbishment back in 2001 or win in castlebar (against mayo at senior) which we haven't done sine 1986!!

And this is our best team in a long long time. Being 21 I have never seen a Roscommon team with this sort of quality. Our forwards, bar maybe Dublin rival any team in the country. A win in the Connaght final would be a huge marker to lay down.

RoscommonTom

TimRiggins wrote: »

And this is our best team in a long long time. Being 21 I have never seen a Roscommon team with this sort of quality. Our forwards, bar maybe Dublin rival any team in the country. A win in the Connaght final would be a huge marker to lay down.

Your right, the forwards we have would cause troubles to any defence, the best young players in the country

TimRiggins

U21s beating Sligo 6-16 to 0-8 near the end. Enda Smith with 3-1 (3 goals after about 25 minutes) then brought off and Murtagh with 2-5 and also brought off early. Some scoring.

megadodge

Just back from the U21 game and really there's nothing we know tonight that we didn't know earlier. It was like a bad challenge match. Smith and Murtagh were a class apart. I thought both scored 3 goals, but maybe Paul Kenny got Murtagh's 'third'.

Was very impressed with Cathal Kenny at centre-back. Very dominant there, very vocal too, seemed to be the leader/organiser of the team around the middle area.

yabadabado

Brilliant win tonight but as has been said it doesn't tell us anything new.I genuinely think our second 15 would have done a better job than Sligo tonight.
Mayo/Galway semi on Saturday.
When is the final ?

Syferus

Easter Saturday. Two and a half weeks time.

Lovely performance but about as worthwhile a test as a passing drill, with all due respect to Sligo who were never given the preparation nessecary to succeed at this level.

The final should show where we're going, if any where.

Syferus

High times for the Primrose and Blue. We can cut loose a little and have a real run at Galway next week without having to worry about survival.

We will definitely be promoted with two wins but I wouldn't look beyond the local derby, Galway will be fighting to stay up and as we found with Laois that makes for a dangerous team.

megadodge

Strange kind of game today. Roscommon played poorly in the first half with the wind, improved in the second half, yet had to rely on a gift 1-1 from Meath's goalie to win it.

Meath were the better side in the first half, but showed a lot of mental frailties in the second - concentration (goalie) and bottling a number of straightforward chances.

In the first half Roscommon were completely dominated in the air, with Meath winning a lot of clean catches in the middle. Cathal Shine came into it more and more as the game went on, especially when he decided to catch catchable balls instead of breaking them to his sometimes not-very-alert teammates.

The ease with which Meath were able to run through the middle at times was a definite worry.

The lack of support play just after breaking out of defense around the midfield area was annoying to put it mildly. We usually only had two players deep inside their half, who were inevitably outnumbered with Meath's sweeper and retreating players. There was one particular occasion when I counted FIVE Rossies all standing around midfield unmarked as three forwards tried desperately to find a way around six Meath defenders.

On the positive side, a win is a win, and it's satisfying to win when not playing particularly well, especially when it comes against one of the danger sides in the division. I was also delighted to see both Donal Ward and Kevin Higgins come on late as subs. I feel both these players are vital for Roscommon going forward and hopefully they can remain injury-free.

Syferus

We actually did far better stuffing runs today than the last two matches, when those Meath runs got to the 20m line they invariably got stood up and have to work the ball out again. Good signs in the last three halves of football that the defense is closing down lanes better.

Kev had the bib off but never came on, Ward came on for Cregg at the death though. Great to see the two Western Gaels men (or Crokes, but c'mon now) back in the reckoning. Ward is the sort of man who would be a good anchor at CHB rather than messing around with our very settled FB line to cover that spot. Niall Daly is a very good ball player but maybe CHB isn't his best spot, just as his brother's best spot wasn't in the corner-back role he started his senior career in.

Gael85

Syferus wrote: »

We actually did far better stuffing runs today than the last two matches, when those Meath runs got to the 20m line they invariably got stood up and have to work the ball out again. Good signs in the last three halves of football that the defense is closing down lanes better.

Kev had the bib off but never came on, Ward came on for Cregg at the death though. Great to see the two Western Gaels men (or Crokes, but c'mon now) back in the reckoning. Ward is the sort of man who would be a good anchor at CHB rather than messing around with our very settled FB line to cover that spot. Niall Daly is a very good ball player but maybe CHB isn't his best spot, just as his brother's best spot wasn't in the corner-back role he started his senior career in.

Has Donal Ward transferred to Kilmacud Crokes?

Syferus

Gael85 wrote: »

Has Donal Ward transferred to Kilmacud Crokes?

Yep. He's been working in Dublin for years so it's no big surprise, it's a wonder more of our Dublin-based players haven't transferred actually.

Santa Cruz

SureYWouldntYa wrote: »

Would we be like Westmeath in Division 1 though ? Obviously promotion was the aim for the next few years but I'd almost prefer another year in Division 2, almost mind

Take any success when it comes. It mightn't come again. Wouldn't it be good to see the main players coming to Roscommon ? Tyrone, Donegal Monaghan were always teams that Roscommon would rate themselves again. Cork have been beaten in the Hyde. Good home shows would ensure safety in Div 1. All going well and getting into Div 1 is experience in itself.
Rosses aims should be as high a league placing as possible, Connacht championship and football in August either via the front door as Provincial champions or through the back door. Playing in Croke Park is something the supporters want and quarter finals in the past have opened the doors for beaten teams to get back winning.
Success breed success and underage teams need a successful Senior teams to look up to

Syferus

They've done fairly well without one! But you have a point all the same. There's no better advertisement for the county teams than a senior team going well.

Strongbow10

Gael85 wrote: »

Has Donal Ward transferred to Kilmacud Crokes?

Very good boxer aswell is Donal Ward

nice_guy80

Division One football would provide more reason to redevelop the Hyde.

yabadabado

Is there any plan in place yet or even a rough idea what is going to be done with the Hyde?

Lt J.R. Bell

Santa Cruz wrote: »

Take any success when it comes. It mightn't come again. Wouldn't it be good to see the main players coming to Roscommon ? Tyrone, Donegal Monaghan were always teams that Roscommon would rate themselves again. Cork have been beaten in the Hyde. Good home shows would ensure safety in Div 1. All going well and getting into Div 1 is experience in itself.
Rosses aims should be as high a league placing as possible, Connacht championship and football in August either via the front door as Provincial champions or through the back door. Playing in Croke Park is something the supporters want and quarter finals in the past have opened the doors for beaten teams to get back winning.
Success breed success and underage teams need a successful Senior teams to look up to

For any prospect of development, Division 1 is the only show in town. If we are expecting this squad to be genuine All Ireland Contenders, or at least quarter finalists in the future, they need to be in Division 1

During Gay Sheerin's time as manager , and even John Tobin's the Rossies were flying high in the league, two semi finals. We bet Tyrone in Roscommon in Harte's first competitive game. We were able to hold our own against Dublin in Parnell (Frankie Dolan coming to blows with that thug, Ciaran Whelan). We even bet Kerry. Problem was, as usual, when Championship came, we were beaten by Mayo and Galway before we left the dressing room (1998 was a hard one to swallow)

crusier

Lt J.R. Bell wrote: »

For any prospect of development, Division 1 is the only show in town. If we are expecting this squad to be genuine All Ireland Contenders, or at least quarter finalists in the future, they need to be in Division 1

During Gay Sheerin's time as manager , and even John Tobin's the Rossies were flying high in the league, two semi finals. We bet Tyrone in Roscommon in Harte's first competitive game. We were able to hold our own against Dublin in Parnell (Frankie Dolan coming to blows with that thug, Ciaran Whelan). We even bet Kerry. Problem was, as usual, when Championship came, we were beaten by Mayo and Galway before we left the dressing room (1998 was a hard one to swallow)

1998 was great, sam came west!

Lt J.R. Bell

yabadabado wrote: »

Avoid relegation from Div 2,a good showing in Connacht championship with a final appearance and a win in CP would be excellent. Been too long since we won a championship game in CP.
Not asking for much but I really do think that has to be the minimum aim.

1980 Semi Finals, was the last time we won a Championship game at Croker.:eek: Even our league appearances are not great (bet Cavan in mid 2000's to reach Division 2 final against Meath and recent Division 3 final, is about it, the later was the first time I ever left Croke Park with the Senior team winning)

Lt J.R. Bell

crusier wrote: »

1998 was great, sam came west!

Ya, even better when family members were from both counties of Roscommon and Galway. I think all of Connacht was proud of that Galway team, christ the names are now household; Fallon, Joyce, Meehans, Mannion , Walshe, Donnellan, . Scenes in Athlone were brilliant (still remember 1988 hurlers too) If only Mayo could have followed up a few times, can't see how anyone could begrudge them

Roscommon would definitely have at least got to the Final , when we saw how Galway dismantled the other team (Derry , or was it Cork?) in the SF, then the nerves would kick in. We had a great team (even though we were lucky to beat Sligo lol) and had a brilliant division 1 campaign. We had bloody Seamus Prior of Leitrim in all four games. Day in Tuam was awful. If only Tommy Grehan and popped that over the bar (McNamara pulled of a great save) . Though, both Joyce and Finnegan missed sitters with the frees. The following Saturday was glorious. O'Domhnall should have been sent off. Sadly 1999 was awful in Castlebar

nice_guy80

the 2001 team could have gone a lot further

Tobin let them off the leash too much after the Connacht win, and having to face Galway again the second day in Connacht rather than Croke Park was a big let down. Hard enough to beat them once in the year