No matter how you dress it up, there is no way you can put a friendly face on a double scoreline like 2-20 to 1-10. The more you analyse the game the worse it gets.

The match programme, in writing about last year’s game in Breffni Park, had this to say: “Bruised, battered, beaten and, more worrying, bereft of leader-ship, Roscommon left Breffni Park with nothing more than they deserved after an appalling performance that ranked up there with the worst in recent times.” The score last year was 0-14 to 0-6, an eight-point defeat for Roscommon. This year it was 13 points and Cavan were missing their best forward Seánie Johnson who scored 0-7 last year.

It was a bitterly cold day in Hyde Park and a strong wind swept down the field into the town goals. Roscommon had the aid of the wind in the first-half. A bright opening in which Donal Shine kicked some marvellous points together with a great effort from John Rogers put Roscommon into an early three-point lead. Cavan gradually clawed their way back to level matters before a Donal Shine goal in the 18th minute put more daylight between the teams.

Roscommon actually had a five-point lead by the 22nd minute but they failed to press ahead at that stage. Cavan finished the stronger in the first-half and had levelled matters by half-time, 1-6 to 0-9. The writing was on the wall at that stage. Given the strength of the wind, Roscommon would have needed at least a lead of five or six points going in at half-time.

The statistics of the second-half make sad reading. Roscommon only scored four points in the entire second-half. Roscommon led by 1-5 to 0-3 after 22 minutes, Cavan outscored them by 2-17 to 0-5 from there to the end of the game.

Cavan scored 2-8 in the final 23 minutes of the game. It was exhibition stuff for the Cavan forwards in the last quarter. Cavan wouldn’t be exactly world-beaters but Roscommon made them look good on Sunday. In fairness, the Cavan forwards kicked some fantastic points in the second-half from all angles and distances. The gulf in class between the teams at the end was alarming. Once Roscommon went four points down in the second-half the heads dropped and Cavan could do what they liked.

It was clear why pundits have been tipping Roscommon for the drop to Division Four before the league ever started. One Roscommon player, Donal Shine, scored 1-7 of his team’s total of 1-10. Only one other forward of the selected six, David O’Gara, scored over the 70 minutes. The other two points were scored by left-half back John Rogers and substitute, Paul Garvey. That is not good enough.

Cavan had a much better spread of scores. Nine players got on the scoresheet, five of the original six forwards scored. They could afford the luxury of taking off Ray Galligan nine minutes before the end of the game.

The summing up in the match programme could have also summed up last Sunday’s game; “While the full-back line coped man-fully under increasing pressure, the half-back line did see plenty of possession but they kept giving it back to the opposition. Midfield was wiped out and Cavan were generally sharper in picking up the breaking ball.”

It is hard to draw any positives from this display. Even the ever reliable Geoffrey Claffey had an off day with his kickouts. On several occasions his short kick-out was fielded by a Cavan half-forward.

Seánie McDermott and Peter Domican tried hard in the corners and Domican was part of the best move that ended in David O’Gara’s point in the second-half. The jury is out on full back Michael Killelea but he did contest the ball with Raymond Galligan. The latter gave an exhibition of kicking from placed balls and accounted for ten points of Cavan’s total.

The half-backs dillied and dallied around too much with the ball in the first-half when the wind was at their backs. At least four Cavan points came from the half-backs giving away the ball. When Cavan got on top in the second-half, several long cross field kicks were aimed at waiting forwards who were left unmarked. Our midfielders never dominated and Cavan picked up most of the breaks in this sector. I have been criticised for harping on about winning the breaks, but we were destroyed in this aspect of the game again on Sunday. Cavan hoovered up practically every break around the middle of the field.

Donal Shine was Roscommon’s best forward but one man can only do so much. He was starved of possession in the second-half. David O’Gara and Enda Kenny tried hard but overall the Cavan backs were on top. There was very little movement in the forward line and very little effort to create space. The Cavan half-backs were allowed to come forward frequently and two of them scored points in the second half.

Tommy Carr must be delighted with this win and it should be good enough to ease rumblings of discon-tent around the county. Their final score of 2-20 was by far the highest score in Division Three on Sunday. The next highest was Offaly’s 1-13 in Tullamore. In fact, 2-20 was the highest score in any division on Sunday last. That will stand to Cavan when scoring averages are totted up as the league nears the closing stages. I doubt if they will find a backline as accommodating as Roscommon’s in their remaining games.

Brewster Park

Roscommon will just have to try and pick up the pieces and move on. Things can hardly get any worse.

I am convinced that Roscommon are better than Sunday’s performance. It is hard to glean any crumb of comfort from last Sunday’s humiliation. But it is not the end of the world and nobody died. We will see better days again.

Last year Roscommon started well with a convincing win over Offaly in Kiltoom. Things started to go down hill after that. Maybe it might be the reverse this year. But that is only clutching at straws.

The next outing is against Fermanagh in Brewster Park, Enniskillen next Saturday evening under lights. I can hardly think of a more difficult assignment in Division Three. Only an incurable optimist could expect a Roscommon victory in Enniskillen.

Cavan play Antrim in Breffni Park and can feel more confident of lifting the points. Roscommon’s next outing after next Saturday will be on Sunday, March 7th against Offaly in Tullamore. That will be no easy game either. It looks like a tough league campaign ahead of us.

Offaly beat Fermanagh in Tullamore on Sunday last and are looking good. Fermanagh will be anxious to win their first points on Saturday at home.

Division One

Dublin bridged a 28-year gap by beating All-Ireland champions Kerry in Killarney. It was a cracking game of football.

It was November 1982 when Dublin last beat Kerry in the Kingdom. Both teams fielded a number of newcomers and this setback is unlikely to cause any loss of sleep down in Kerry. The championship is their focus and all their energies will be aimed in that direction.

Mayo looked very impressive in beating Galway by seven points in Castlebar. I watched most of the game on TG4 and Mayo looked very sharp, fit and hungry. Andy Moran was very impressive at right-half forward and inside him Mayo have discovered a very lively forward in Enda Varley. Ronan McGarrity and Tom Parsons were very impressive at midfield and on the evidence of this display Mayo will be hard to beat in Division One.

Meanwhile in Division Four, Waterford travelled to Ballinamore and caused a shock by beating Leitrim. It just goes to show that no team can be taken for granted, even in Division Four 

Main News Page | Previous Page