ROSCOMMON FOOTBALL IS on a high at the moment.
In each of the past five years their U21 footballers have reached the provincial decider or beyond, losing only to the eventual All-Ireland winners.
Looking ahead to this weekend’s final against Dublin, and the county’s latest opportunity to go one step further and win their first final in 26 years, we caught up with some of the stars of that recent success.
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Donie Shine made his name with the Roscommon minor team in 2006, quickly progressing into one of the county’s most established senior players.
In 2010 he rotated between centre forward and midfield on the Roscommon U21 team who overcame Sligo to win the Connacht championship.
Roscommon then found themselves 2-1 to 0-1 down after three minutes in that year’s All-Ireland semi final against eventual winners Dublin, and despite four points from Shine, they were beaten by eight on the day.
Since their All-Ireland minor success in 2006 Roscommon’s minor teams have competed in six of the last seven provincial finals, winning two of the last three. They have won three of the last five U21 provincial titles, while last week the senior side won the division three league title.
What has been the key to this success and when can we expect to see this transpire into senior championship football?
“I’d expect to see it in the next two or three years, or even this year,” Shine told TheScore.ie.
“There’s been good underage structures put in place, good management teams, and a lot of talented players; so all of those things combined have led to a lot of success.
“The U21s are obviously going very well and I fancy them to win this weekend and alot of them will make the breakthrough. So I expect it to transfer into senior success very soon.’
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Captain of the team the previous year, in 2011 Neil Collins was again in the full-back line as his side reached the Connacht final against Galway. They were no match for the Tribesman who would go on to win that year’s All-Ireland final by ten points. Collins has gone on to nail down a place in the senior team.
Roscommon have leaked six goals this season while Dublin are yet to concede. Can they afford to give away goal scoring opportunities against Paul Mannion and co, and will goals prove the difference between the teams on Saturday?
“It’ll be massively important that they don’t concede many goals on Saturday,” Collins said.
“They conceded three quite sloppy goals against Cork and they still managed to win but usually if you concede goals in a final you don’t win.
“It’s important they limit Dublin to one or no goal, and I’m sure they’ll rattle the Dublin net for the first time this year.
“Goals in a final do have a huge momentum swing and I’m sure if they keep the goals out they’ll win the game.”
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Scott Oates was a key man in 2012 as his team recorded a four-point victory over a Mayo side who had knocked out the reigning All-Ireland champions Galway.
Another Connacht final victory over Sligo set up the Rossies for a hard fought All-Ireland semi-final against Cavan.
A five-point win put Roscommon in their first All-Ireland decider since 1982 but a Ciaran Kilkenny-inspired Dublin would prove a step too far on this occasion.
Two years ago Collins was a standout performer in that 2-12 to 0-11 defeat against the Dubs. His marker that day was Jack McCaffrey.
What do you think will be different this time around for the Rossies against another strong Dublin team? And what advice would you give to the Roscommon half-forwards on coping with McCaffrey?
“‘I don’t think they’ve anything to fear to be honest. A lot of lads on the panel were involved two years ago so they’ll know what to expect,” Oates said.
“Roscommon are used to winning now and we won’t be going in as major underdogs as in the past. That’s the main difference — there should be no fear this weekend.
“My advice would be not to concentrate on [McCaffrey] too much and to play your own game.
“Jack’s obviously right up there, he’s a class act, but I’ve no doubt the lads will be well able for him and as long as they leave everything on the pitch they’ll be fine.”
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Colin Compton was one of eleven players from the 2012 All-Ireland final who was still eligible for the team the following season.
Compton was prominent in a convincing semi-final win over Leitrim, but in the Connacht decider Roscommon met a surprise package in a talented young Galway side.
Three points ahead coming in to the closing stages, a late Galway comeback brought the game to extra time. The Tribesmen edged through, eventually going on to defy the odds and win last year’s All-Ireland championship.
Between the two teams, in eight games played this year, they have amassed 11-121. Can we expect both teams to continue to play such attacking football in the final?
“I definitely think they’re going to play attacking football,” Compton said. “It’s the way they’ve been playing all year so they’d have no reason to change and I’d be expecting a very high scoring game.
“Last year we were lacking a bit of strength in depth compared to two years ago. When it went to extra time we lacked a few players to maybe come in.
“But I don’t think they’ll have that problem this year as they’ve four or five lads on the bench just as good as what’s playing.’
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Conor Daly was wing-back two years ago when a late Dublin flurry ended Roscommon’s All-Ireland dream.
Like his brother Niall, who was also on that team, Conor has gone on to establish himself on the county’s senior team. In fact he has scored 1-6 from wing back in this year’s league campaign.
The DCU student missed out on this year’s semi final win over Cork but he is likely to be the sole Roscommon change for this weekend’s final, joining his younger brother Ronan in the half-back line.
Back again in Tullamore, where Roscommon lost to the same team at the same stage in the same venue two years ago — will the repeat fixture have a positive or negative effect on the five remaining players from that game (and the management team who were also in charge that year)?
“I think it will have a positive effect definitely because we have the chance to have learnt from our mistakes,” Daly said.
“And also, we’ve played there before so we know what to expect and what’s ahead of us.
“I’m back fit, so yes I’ll be 100%. Preparations have gone really well so I’m just looking forward to it.”
