Bolger adamant that divisional teams still have a future in senior football championship

North Roscommon manager Peter Bolger believes that divisional teams still have a future in the local senior football championship, despite his side being handed a walkover ahead of next Sunday’s scheduled Regional Divisional football championship final.

Bolger’s regional outfit were set to face Mid-South Roscommon in Enfield, with the winners qualifying directly for the preliminary quarter-final stages of this year’s senior football championship, but it has been confirmed that their opponents are unable to field a team.

While North Roscommon, as a result of the walkover, will meet a third-placed team from the group stages later in the championship, Bolger admitted that it is far from an ideal scenario.

“It is very sad because we have put a lot of work into it. We were looking forward to the game because I believe that it represented a great opportunity for players from North Roscommon to test themselves against higher-quality opposition,” he explained.

Alongside Paddy Dowd (Clonguish) as head coach, assistant manager Seán Casey (Ballinameen) and assistant coach Cathal Sweeney (Shannon Gaels), Bolger and his management team had left “no stone unturned” ahead of the game.

But while next Sunday’s walkover is a blow to the concept of regional teams from the county competing in the local senior football championship, the North Roscommon manager remained adamant that the system has a future.

“It is a huge asset to have this divisional system in place. Most of the guys that I have under me will never get a chance to play senior football, but they will with this divisional set-up. It means that these guys can test themselves against the best footballers, the fittest footballers, and the most acclimatised footballers that we have in the county.

“If you look at what Armagh did to Kerry, Roscommon aren’t that far off the mark. I think the three weeks in a row destroyed Roscommon’s freshness for the game (against Armagh).

“Down the line, if we can have one or two players from the divisional set-ups going into the Roscommon panel, that will be a huge advantage. Even if that doesn’t happen the fact you are getting a chance to play against senior footballers is a mighty, mighty thing. I think it is brilliant,” he concluded.