All bets are off as Roscommon face bandwagon for Salthill

The favourites for relegation before a ball was kicked in Division One are making a mockery of their odds.

While there’s still much work to be done, Roscommon’s chances of staying in the top-flight have been given a huge injection of hope following Sunday’s thrilling victory against Armagh.

Since 2016, any time Roscommon have garnered at least two wins in Division One, they’ve stayed at the top table. With four games remaining, including home games against Dublin and Donegal and two Connacht derbies on the road, Mark Dowd’s young team have given themselves every opportunity of completing a mission that many saw as highly unlikely only a few weeks ago.

On Saturday evening, the roadshow continues with a trip into familiar territory. Galway in Salthill for a 7 p.m. throw-in has suddenly become a game that Roscommon will feel capable of winning.

Galway are missing a few players through injury, and they made plenty of mistakes against Kerry last weekend. Indeed, at one stage, it looked like they would be beaten out the gate by the All-Ireland champions, trailing by 2-12 to 1-5 heading into the final quarter.

But there’s character and spirit aplenty in the Tribesmen, and the way they fought back to earn a share of the spoils in Tralee — despite the absence of key players — has handed Padraic Joyce’s side a significant spring in their step ahead of Saturday’s contest.

Players like Shane McGrath and Fionn McDonagh have added freshness to the Galway attack, and while Cillian McDaid, Shane Walsh, Damien Comer and Paul Conroy — the latter has only returned to the panel — were notable absentees against the Kingdom, the return of captain John Maher was a huge boost, and he had a huge part in flipping the game against Kerry on its head.

For Roscommon, it’s a case of keeping the positivity going. Yes, there will be an inquest into what happened around the middle in the second half against Armagh, alongside an acknowledgement that a more efficient display in front of goal by Kieran McGeeney’s men would have, more than likely, salvaged something from Sunday’s game.

But a breathtaking opening 35 minutes will be dissected as well — a lucrative period where midfield superiority and a ravenous workrate laid the platform for quality forwards to show what they can do.

Crucially, Enda Smith, Dylan Ruane, Daire Cregg and Diarmuid Murtagh are leading the attack brilliantly, and while the dominance of Keith Doyle and Conor Ryan tailed off spectacularly in the second half against the Orchard County, they’re gleaning such an education about what it takes to make an impression at this level.

Having just returned to training, it's unlikely that the St. Brigid’s players, outside of Conor Carroll, will be available for selection. So Mark Dowd will have no choice but to, once again, place his trust in his midfield pairing.

The new Roscommon manager will also have seen aspects of Galway’s performances against Armagh and Kerry to see where his side can hurt the home team.

Both sides will be greatly changed from last year’s Connacht semi-final where Galway had things all their own way in Salthill. From a Roscommon perspective, to expose ten new players to Division One football and have two wins from three is beyond anyone’s wildest dreams.

Crucially, it leaves some wriggle room for a setback if things don’t go according to plan somewhere along the line.

In that regard, home advantage will probably swing the pendulum in Galway’s favour on Saturday evening. In terms of the overall picture and where Roscommon will finish in the table, however, all bets are off.

Verdict: Galway