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You are > Home > No room for complacency
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Wednesday, June 16, 2010
No room for complacency
There will be no room for complacency when Roscommon take on Leitrim in the Connacht senior football championship semi-final in Hyde Park on Sunday next.
A look back at the year 2000 at the same venue should be enough to warn Roscommon to treat Leitrim with the utmost respect.
The similarities between the championship of that year and this year are uncanny.
Galway beat New York in New York, Roscommon beat London in Ruislip and Sligo beat Mayo in Markievicz Park. The semifinal pairings saw Roscommon take on Leitrim in Hyde Park and Galway played Sligo in the other semi-final.
That game was in Markievicz Park, while this year’s game between the two counties will be in Pearse Stadium.
Roscommon were firm favourites to beat Leitim in Hyde Park after hammering London by 4-18 to 0-10 in Ruislip. Brian Carty, writing in his book ‘Championship 2000’ had this to say; “no ifs or buts, this was the shock of Championship 2000!
Rank outsiders Leitrim, who trailed at one stage by no less than seven points, stunned Roscommon with a second-half performance of pure grit and courage to pull off a famous victory over their great rivals.”
Roscommon defended the town goals in the first half and the forwards tore the Leitrim defence apart as Gerry Lohan, Frankie Dolan and John Gillooly scored a goal each in the space of seven minutes.
In fact Roscommon should have scored six goals in that first half as at least three glorious chances of goal were scorned.
Frankie Dolan and Gerry Lohan, in particular, created havoc in the Leitrim back line.
Leitrim came back into the game in the last ten minutes of the half and scored three unanswered points. Roscommon led at half-time by 3-4 to 0-8.
I remember a security man from Longford saying at half-time in the press box that he still expected Leitrim to win despite their first-half performance.
He got a few strange glances but how right he was!
All changed utterly after the break, as Leitrim powered by team captain Seamus Quinn, Paul Kieran and Gareth Foley began the big fightback.
The vital score came with ten minutes left when Gareth Foley knocked a high centre from Paul Kieran across the front of the Roscommon goals and wing-back Dermot Reynolds dived low to fist the ball past Derek Thompson.
That goal levelled the scores and Paul Kieran scored a wonderful point to edge Leitrim ahead in the 57th minute.
A draw looked likely when Fergal O’Donnell kicked the equalising point, but Seamus Quinn kicked over the winning point for Leitrim to leave the home crowd, including yours truly, stunned.
Leitrim had outscored Roscommon by 1-5 to 0-2 in the second-half. The final score read Leitrim 1-13, Roscommon 3-6.
The Roscommon team that day was: Derek Thompson, Denis Gavin, Ronan Owens, Brendan Burke, Michael Ryan, Clifford McDonald, Damien Donlon, Donal Casserly, Francie Grehan, Derek Duggan, Alan Nolan, Gerry Lohan, Fergal O’Donnell.
It is little consolation for Roscommon followers that the previous time the two teams met in Hyde Park was in 1994 and Leitrim also won that game by 1-10 to 0-12.
In fact of the ten times that Leitrim beat Roscommon in the championship since 1906, nine of those victories were in Roscommon. Leitrim beat Roscommon only once in Carrick.
That was in 1927 when Leitrim won by 1-3 to 0-2, but Roscommon objected and the game was replayed in Ballinamore. Leitrim won that game by 0-7 to 1-0.
Is there a possibility that Leitrim could make it three wins in a row in Hyde Park next Sunday? I am afraid there is, but I feel that Fergal O’Donnel will warn his players about the game in 2000.
There is little separating the two teams.
They are both in Division Four. It is a toss up of a coin between them. Roscommon have one championship game behind them and that, together with home advantage, might be enough to edge them ahead at the end.
This seems to be the year of the draws, and a draw on Sunday wouldn’t surprise me.
The Foleys of Dublin
We had an old professor in Maynooth who taught us philosophy. He used to say on handing us back our Christmas exam papers that, “memory is a powerful faculty but it can be notoriously defective at times.”
I certainly had a lapse of memory last week when I forgot that Des Foley had won a senior All-Ireland football medal with Dublin.
Des, of course, was captain of the team that beat Galway in the 1963 final.
I am indebted to Jimmy Morris of Croghan and Brian McDermott of Ballintubber who spotted the mistake and contacted me.
Des Foley was born on September 12th, 1940 in Kinsealy where his family had a successful market gardening business. He was a skilful hurler and footballer in his younger days.
He was later to play both hurling and football with Dublin. He won minor AllIreland football medals with Dublin in 1956 and ‘58.
He was captain in 1958. Des also captained the St. Joseph’s, Fairview, team that won the All-Ireland football colleges’ title in 1959, beating St. Nathy’s, Ballaghaderreen, in the final by 3-9 to 2-8. It was the first colleges’ title to come to Dublin.
He won four senior hurling championship medals with St. Vincent’s in 1960, ‘62, ‘64 and ‘67. He won eight county senior football medals with St. Vincent’s in 1958, ‘59.
‘60, ‘61, ‘62, ‘64, ‘66 and ‘67. He joined the senior football team in 1958 and played until 1969.
In addition to winning an All-Ireland medal in 1963, Des became the only player in the history of the GAA to play in two provincial Railway Cup finals on the same day on St. Patrick’s Day, 1962. He won medals in both hurling and football that day for Leinster.
He won further Railway Cup hurling medals in 1964 and ‘65. He was midfield on the Dublin senior hurling team that was beaten by Tipperary in the 1961 All-Ireland final.
Des won two All-Star football awards in 1963 and ‘65, and a hurling All-Star award in 1963. That means that he won All-Star awards in both hurling and football in 1963. He won 5 Leinster senior football championships with Dublin in 1958, ‘59, ‘62, ‘63 and ‘65.
Des was elected to Dáil Éireann in 1965 as a Fianna Fáil TD.
He held his seat until he resigned on November 4th, 1970 in protest against the Northern Ireland policy of the Taoiseach, Jack Lynch. Des died suddenly of a heart attack on February 5th, 1995 at the age of 54.
Des Foley’s brother Liam, who was nicknamed ‘Lar’, played hurling and football for Dublin from 1958 to 1970. He played full-back on both teams.
‘Lar’ won a minor All-Ireland football medal with Dublin in 1955 when he was midfield on the team that beat Tipperary by 5-4 to 2-7 in the final.
He was right-corner back on the Dublin team that beat Derry in the 1958 All-Ireland football final and he was full-back on the team that beat Galway in the 1963 final. He played both hurling and football for St. Vincent’s from 1956 to 1976.
He won 12 senior football championship medals with St. Vincent’s, six between 1957 and 1962, and again in 1964, ‘66 and ‘67 and three-in-a-row between 1970 and 1972.
He was a sub on the St. Vincent’s team that was beaten by Nemo Rangers in the 1973 All-Ireland club final replay.
‘Lar’ was left-corner back on the Dublin hurling team beaten by Tipperary in the 1961 final.
He was left-corner back on the Leinster Railway Cup winning hurling teams in 1962 and ‘64. He won 4 senior hurling championships with St. Vincent’s in 1957, ‘60, ‘62 and ‘64.
He managed the Dublin senior hurling team from 1989 to 1993. He was Texaco Footballer of the Year in 1963.
Liam ‘Lar’ Foley died suddenly on 4th May 2003 at the age of 64.
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