“IT’S THEIR REWARD to see their county in a Connacht final in two weeks’ time.”
Diarmuid Murtagh was accepting his RTÉ man-of-the-match award after Roscommon’s Connacht semi-final win over Mayo when he took a moment to pay tribute to their fans.
He thought back to the first round of the league in January when a large crowd travelled to Killarney for a crack at the All-Ireland champions.
Kerry needed a buzzer-beater point to hold off Roscommon that day, leaving Murtagh and his teammates worrying that their followers might mistake their effort as a ‘once-off performance.’
But their offering was actually the first flash of form that almost delivered a place in the Division 1 league final and has now propelled them into a Connacht decider.
Murtagh was the conductor of the show in MacHale Park yesterday. The county’s highest-ever scorer finished the day with 1-10 (0-2f, 1 2pt play, 1 2pt free) from 12 shots in an almost perfect exhibition of shooting. The width of the goalpost was all that kept him from a 2-10 tally after his first goal-bound shot crashed back off the woodwork in the 10th minute.
But he didn’t have to wait long for his green flag, finishing the ball into an empty net in the next phase of play. Robert Heneghan sniped a Rob Hennelly kickout and dropped the ball in front of his cousin Darragh Heneghan who palmed it across to Murtagh for the tap-in finish.
You know what they say about 'if it first you don't succeed'. Second time proves a charm for Diarmuid Murtagh just after having been denied by the woodwork, and Roscommon have a goal.
It was a timely score as Mayo had raced into a four-point lead.
When Mayo attempted to build a lead at other times during the game, Murtagh responded with crucial interventions.
The St Faithleach’s forward kicked two scores, one from play and one from a free, when Roscommon were trailing 0-8 to 1-1 in the first half and also contributed to the recovery effort after Ryan O’Donoghue’s goal in the 26th minute.
He profited from another ill-judged Hennelly kickout to make it 1-9 to 1-5, and was at the other end of a counter move shortly after to reduce the gap to three after the half-hour mark.
(Skip to 1:18, 1:36 and 1:48 for Murtagh’s points)
During that man-of-the-match interview, Murtagh revealed that securing possession from the Mayo kickouts was a big target for Roscommon.
“Rob Hennelly is a fantastic keeper. He’s very good at disguising kickouts, looking one way and kicking the other. So it’s definitely something we identified and went after. Thankfully at times, we got a bit of luck off it.”
Circling back to their impressive league run, Roscommon went into the 2026 season on the back of retirements to key players like Donie Smith and Diarmuid’s brother, Ciaráin. Mark O’Dowd was coming in as the new manager while their St Brigid’s players had to endure the pain of a second All-Ireland defeat in three seasons.
Roscommon’s historical struggles in Division 1 are well known, but they preserved their status with impressive force this year. They were unlucky not to get a draw in that opening round against Kerry, while their wins over Armagh, Galway and Donegal are noteworthy.
A place in the Division 1 final was on the cards heading into the last round but a 4-26 to 2-11 hammering at the hands of Mayo extinguished all hope. It should be noted however that neither Murtagh nor Enda Smith featured in that game.
They were both heavily involved in the revenge mission in Castlebar, hitting 1-13 between them. Roscommon relied on their leadership in the absence of some experienced players.
Daire Cregg was unavailable for selection after an appeal to overturn his red card against New York proved unsuccessful. There were also without some of their St Brigid’s stars as Brian Stack, Ruaidhrí Fallon and Ben O’Carroll were all not part of the matchday 26.
Murtagh finished the league with 5-30 in total, including nine two-pointers and he found his range outside the arc again on Sunday.
This shot brought the sides back level in the early stages of the second half. After helping build the attack through the middle, Murtagh then shifted into position to receive a pass from midfielder Conor Ryan for a shot off his left boot.
That effort sent Roscommon on their way to outscoring Mayo by 1-17 to 0-7 in the second half.
Murtagh made his senior championship bow in 2014, the same year that he scored a late free against Cork to send the Roscommon U21s into an All-Ireland final.
Three years later he was a Connacht SFC winner, scoring five points in the final against Galway to end a seven-year wait for provincial glory. He also provided the assist for Cian Connolly’s first-half goal as Roscommon prevailed with a 2-15 to 0-12 win.
The convincing nature of their victory was underlined by Roscommon’s poor league form that year. They lost six games in-a-row on the way to relegation from Division 1, managing just one victory in the final round against Cavan.
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Roscommon and Galway contested four Connacht finals in-a-row between 2016 and 2019, and while the Tribesmen exacted revenge in 2018, the Rossies reached the summit for the third time in that decade the following year.
Murtagh celebrating after his goal in the 2019 Connacht final. Tommy Grealy / INPHO
Tommy Grealy / INPHO / INPHO
Murtagh prospered again with 1-3 in that final as Roscommon produced their most fruitful run in Connacht since winning four titles in-a-row between 1977 and 1980.
Galway won their most recent Connacht final meeting in 2022, and the next chapter awaits in Hyde Park.
Galway are aiming to complete a five-in-a-row this year although they looked vulnerable at times in their semi-final win over Leitrim on Saturday. They were just three points in front in the closing minutes and needed insurance scores from Rob Finnerty and Shane Walsh to see them into the winner’s circle.
Roscommon have deadly forwards who will look to exploit those frailties while the return of Daire Cregg from suspension adds to their power up front. Murtagh was quick to credit the Roscommon supporters for the faith they have shown so far in 2026.
He looks poised to give them another reason to cheer on Sunday, 10 May.
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Scoring 1-10 from 12 shots to help Roscommon claim famous win over Mayo
“IT’S THEIR REWARD to see their county in a Connacht final in two weeks’ time.”
Diarmuid Murtagh was accepting his RTÉ man-of-the-match award after Roscommon’s Connacht semi-final win over Mayo when he took a moment to pay tribute to their fans.
He thought back to the first round of the league in January when a large crowd travelled to Killarney for a crack at the All-Ireland champions.
Kerry needed a buzzer-beater point to hold off Roscommon that day, leaving Murtagh and his teammates worrying that their followers might mistake their effort as a ‘once-off performance.’
But their offering was actually the first flash of form that almost delivered a place in the Division 1 league final and has now propelled them into a Connacht decider.
Murtagh was the conductor of the show in MacHale Park yesterday. The county’s highest-ever scorer finished the day with 1-10 (0-2f, 1 2pt play, 1 2pt free) from 12 shots in an almost perfect exhibition of shooting. The width of the goalpost was all that kept him from a 2-10 tally after his first goal-bound shot crashed back off the woodwork in the 10th minute.
But he didn’t have to wait long for his green flag, finishing the ball into an empty net in the next phase of play. Robert Heneghan sniped a Rob Hennelly kickout and dropped the ball in front of his cousin Darragh Heneghan who palmed it across to Murtagh for the tap-in finish.
It was a timely score as Mayo had raced into a four-point lead.
When Mayo attempted to build a lead at other times during the game, Murtagh responded with crucial interventions.
The St Faithleach’s forward kicked two scores, one from play and one from a free, when Roscommon were trailing 0-8 to 1-1 in the first half and also contributed to the recovery effort after Ryan O’Donoghue’s goal in the 26th minute.
He profited from another ill-judged Hennelly kickout to make it 1-9 to 1-5, and was at the other end of a counter move shortly after to reduce the gap to three after the half-hour mark.
(Skip to 1:18, 1:36 and 1:48 for Murtagh’s points)
During that man-of-the-match interview, Murtagh revealed that securing possession from the Mayo kickouts was a big target for Roscommon.
“Rob Hennelly is a fantastic keeper. He’s very good at disguising kickouts, looking one way and kicking the other. So it’s definitely something we identified and went after. Thankfully at times, we got a bit of luck off it.”
Circling back to their impressive league run, Roscommon went into the 2026 season on the back of retirements to key players like Donie Smith and Diarmuid’s brother, Ciaráin. Mark O’Dowd was coming in as the new manager while their St Brigid’s players had to endure the pain of a second All-Ireland defeat in three seasons.
Roscommon’s historical struggles in Division 1 are well known, but they preserved their status with impressive force this year. They were unlucky not to get a draw in that opening round against Kerry, while their wins over Armagh, Galway and Donegal are noteworthy.
A place in the Division 1 final was on the cards heading into the last round but a 4-26 to 2-11 hammering at the hands of Mayo extinguished all hope. It should be noted however that neither Murtagh nor Enda Smith featured in that game.
They were both heavily involved in the revenge mission in Castlebar, hitting 1-13 between them. Roscommon relied on their leadership in the absence of some experienced players.
Daire Cregg was unavailable for selection after an appeal to overturn his red card against New York proved unsuccessful. There were also without some of their St Brigid’s stars as Brian Stack, Ruaidhrí Fallon and Ben O’Carroll were all not part of the matchday 26.
Murtagh finished the league with 5-30 in total, including nine two-pointers and he found his range outside the arc again on Sunday.
This shot brought the sides back level in the early stages of the second half. After helping build the attack through the middle, Murtagh then shifted into position to receive a pass from midfielder Conor Ryan for a shot off his left boot.
That effort sent Roscommon on their way to outscoring Mayo by 1-17 to 0-7 in the second half.
Murtagh made his senior championship bow in 2014, the same year that he scored a late free against Cork to send the Roscommon U21s into an All-Ireland final.
Three years later he was a Connacht SFC winner, scoring five points in the final against Galway to end a seven-year wait for provincial glory. He also provided the assist for Cian Connolly’s first-half goal as Roscommon prevailed with a 2-15 to 0-12 win.
The convincing nature of their victory was underlined by Roscommon’s poor league form that year. They lost six games in-a-row on the way to relegation from Division 1, managing just one victory in the final round against Cavan.
Roscommon and Galway contested four Connacht finals in-a-row between 2016 and 2019, and while the Tribesmen exacted revenge in 2018, the Rossies reached the summit for the third time in that decade the following year.
Murtagh prospered again with 1-3 in that final as Roscommon produced their most fruitful run in Connacht since winning four titles in-a-row between 1977 and 1980.
Galway won their most recent Connacht final meeting in 2022, and the next chapter awaits in Hyde Park.
Galway are aiming to complete a five-in-a-row this year although they looked vulnerable at times in their semi-final win over Leitrim on Saturday. They were just three points in front in the closing minutes and needed insurance scores from Rob Finnerty and Shane Walsh to see them into the winner’s circle.
Roscommon have deadly forwards who will look to exploit those frailties while the return of Daire Cregg from suspension adds to their power up front. Murtagh was quick to credit the Roscommon supporters for the faith they have shown so far in 2026.
He looks poised to give them another reason to cheer on Sunday, 10 May.
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