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Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Rossies on red alert
The worst possible draw?
Perhaps, but Roscommon must enter Sunday’s All Ireland quarter-final against Cork in Croke Park in a positive frame of mind (throwin at 2 p.m.).
Last Sunday evening’s draw wasn’t kind to the Connacht champions but it’s imperative that Roscommon aren’t a beaten team before they take to Croker’s sacred sod.
It’s a mammoth task but Cork showed chinks in their armour against Limerick in the Gaelic grounds on Saturday evening last.
The problem was that Limerick tried to stop Cork from playing. That’s not Roscommon’s way but they’ll have to come up with a game plan to stop a physically imposing Cork side.
Realistically Roscommon’s objective will be to compete with Cork for as long as they can. It’s worth remembering that players like Donie Shine, David O’Gara, David Keenan, Peter Domican and Stephen Ormsby have never paid much attention to reputations.
Roscommon are also provincial champions. They earned that title and deserve a crack against the best teams in the country.
If Cork can take a leaf out of Sligo’s book and think they’re already in the AllIreland semi-final against either Tyrone or Dublin, then Roscommon have a slim chance.
Pat Spillane noted on Saturday evening last that every team that have come through the qualifiers would want Roscommon keep it coming Pat and get Bernard Flynn to throw in more of the same during the coming week!
Conor Counihan has an athletic side at his disposal.
Their sheer physical presence alone makes this a daunting task for a young Roscommon side that won’t have faced this level of competition before. Cork have only one thing on their mind beating Kerry in Croke Park and becoming the best team in the land.
They may well get their chance in September but they’ll have to improve immeasurably from their showing against Limerick.
Hopefully that performance is an indication that Cork aren’t what they’re cracked up to be.
Needless to say, Roscommon must start like they did against Sligo in the Connacht final. Hit the ground running, derive confidence from a few early scores and see what happens from there.
Roscommon must show from an early stage that they deserve the respect of provincial champions. The team will be fit enough but mentally they will be challenged ahead of this game.
Far from playing down Roscommon’s chances, Fergal O’Donnell’s side must grasp this opportunity to see where they’re at against one of the favourites for All-Ireland glory.
If Roscommon can continue to progress in the next couple of years, there will be more games against teams of Cork’s calibre to look forward to.
If beating Sligo in last Sunday week’s Connacht final was considered a shock, it would be nothing compared to a Roscommon victory next Sunday.
Roscommon must give it a lash in a controlled, disciplined manner and not let the occasion, and, more importantly, the reputation of the opposition get to them.
Pretty much everyone outside the team, management and backroom team will expect Roscommon’s journey to end next weekend.
But players live for this sort of occasion when they get to test themselves against some of the best players in the country. If Roscommon genuinely believe they can beat Cork, they can throw the cat among the pigeons for long periods. Unfortunately the Rebels have the artillery to inflict plenty of pain on the scoreboard if things start to go wrong for Roscommon. It’s very difficult to see Roscommon winning but the primary objective of stitching together a performance to show why they’re Connacht champions is possible. Most people would settle for that. HERALD PREDICTION: Cork by six points.
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