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You are > Home > Hastings success secured
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Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Hastings success secured
A promising start to the season for the Roscommon U-21 team was cemented last Saturday with a Hastings Cup title after victory over Cavan in Longford.
The defeat over the Ulster men gave Roscommon a clean sweep of three victories from three outings in the four-team competition.
It followed solid displays against Longford and Leitrim in recent weeks as the Rossies retained a trophy they also took in 2009, 2008 and 2007.
Cavan had looked even more impressive than Roscommon in the earlier rounds as they hammered Leitrim and Longford by 18 and 11 points respectively.
They duly pushed Roscommon to the pin of their collar in a frantic secondhalf last weekend but the winners deserve credit for showing character and determination in the face of a late Cavan onslaught.
Roscommon appointed a new manager, Jimmy Gacquin, to the U-21 post late last year and the Longfordbased teacher was happy to see such positive early signals. But he was also quick to point out that the Hastings Cup win was “just a foundation” and “there is a long way to go yet”.
“I was happy with the performance. I know in the last couple of minutes we lived on the edge but they dug deep. We got the scores at the finish to close out the game so I was happy enough at the performance,” commended Gacquin.
“I think we have improved in every game. We have tried lads throughout the three games and we’re trying to settle on a team at the minute. We haven’t it finally polished off yet but we’re getting there,” he continued.
“I suppose it’s important to say that this is a Hastings Cup and it’s early in the season. There are no medals for this really. So it’s very important that everybody keeps calm and doesn’t blow this out of proportion. This is a learning process. The fact that we won today is a foundation, but it’s just a foundation.
We have a lot of work to do yet and there’s a long way to go. But today I think we fully deserved our victory,” the former Kilglass Gaels manager concluded.
Team selector Peter Bolger agreed with the new U21 boss that it was “a learning process” before expressing cautious optimism for the road ahead.
“Looking at the game today, it was workrate that won the game. The pitch was soggy and it was hard on both teams. Cavan showed great enthusiasm going through the middle. We covered it at half-time and should’ve got three or four scores that would have given us a cushion just after half-time.
“But look, it’s a learning process. There is a great panel of players and we’re very proud to be involved with them. The next serious game we have will be on March 17th. We’re feeling good about the championship once we can keep everybody injury-free,” the former Tulsk manager concluded.
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