BEFORE THE DRAW for the All-Ireland SFC qualifier round 2 was made, there was one side that Cathal Cregg and his Roscommon teammates were keen to avoid.
However, as fate would have it, they ended up being drawn against Tyrone – arguably the toughest side they could have been paired with.
The DCU student concedes that this scenario was less than ideal, but still feels his side’s home advantage could prove a significant factor in the tie.
“The draw hasn’t been too kind for us throughout,” says Cregg. “We probably couldn’t have got it any harder again. Tyrone have been one of the strongest teams of the last 10 years. We’re under no illusions about what is lying ahead of us.
“One advantage [is] that at least we have them at home. It’s great for the supporters after the Galway game to get the win against Armagh and another big game now. That’s where we want to be pitching ourselves at.
“For us as a team, we’ve been developing over the last number of years and we need to be challenging the likes of Tyrone and see where you’re at at the end of it. That’ll be a fair yardstick, whether you’re up to that level or where you’re going, you know.”
Of course, it is hardly the first time that Cregg and his teammates have been confronted with a considerable challenge. In May, they were comprehensively beaten by Galway in the Connacht SFC quarter-final, but they subsequently made a swift recovery and secured a surprise victory over Armagh in their last qualifer.
What went so right in the six-week gap between the two games?
“First of all we met up and, I suppose, went through the few things that went wrong against Galway. There were a lot of things that went wrong against Galway. Talked about them, then parked them.“Then we were back to the club for two weeks for club championship. That was probably the best thing that happened, back to competitive games. Then after that it was just back to training, heads down. There was no key ingredient, just hard work.”
And Cregg suggests the sense of shame they felt following the Galway loss was a motivating factor, which helped inspire them to beat Armagh.
“I suppose we owed ourselves, we owed the manager, we owed the supporters, we owed everyone because the performance against Galway wasn’t good enough. I don’t think going into the game, none of our players could have predicted that was going to happen.
“It was just one of them things, one of those days where everything went wrong. I don’t know what else to say about it. Thankfully we just put it right the last day against Armagh. It just shows the willingness that’s there in the lads. We were five points down at half-time the last day and it could have folded again badly.”
He continues: “I suppose it just reaffirms the work that has been done in the last few years. If we’d lost to Armagh the last day I suppose you’d be taking a backwards step this year, after the Galway game, whereas we’re on an even keel now. We’re looking to go forward.“Armagh are a Division 1 team and we’re trying to get up to Division 2, Division 1 and competing at that level ultimately. That’s where we want to get to. You have to be competing against the likes of Armagh and Tyrone if you want to get there.”
And while Tyrone may have suffered a significant setback recently, as they were defeated by Donegal in the Ulster SFC semi-final, Cregg believes they are likely to be as formidable as ever on Saturday.
“I don’t think any team in the country would fancy playing them. The top teams still wouldn’t like to be playing Tyrone. I fancy Donegal probably to be one of the teams at the end of the Championship this year.
“They (Tyrone) came very close to drawing with them only for Paul Durcan to pull off such a great save at the end. It could have been a totally different game if that went in. So they’re still very competitive. We played them last year and they ended up beating us by 10 or 11 points. I think there’s still a fear factor there with (Tyrone) for a lot of teams.”
The All-Ireland SFC qualifier round 2 match between Roscommon and Tyrone takes place this Saturday at 2pm in Dr Hyde Park.
