Business as usual for Carroll as he settles into life at St. Brigid's

Roscommon senior football goalkeeper, Conor Carroll, has said that it's "business as usual" as he gets used to life at his new club, St. Brigid's.

Speaking to the Roscommon Herald in the aftermath of the South Roscommon side's facile O'Rourke Cup final a week ago, Carroll admitted that having so many Roscommon team-mates at the club had helped him integrate quickly into Anthony Cunningham's side's set-up. 

“It is obviously a small bit different, but it is a great help knowing a lot of the lads from the Roscommon set-up and obviously getting on really well with the lads the last few weeks. 

"Everyone on and off the pitch has made it very easy. You can feel at home very quickly. For that, I am very grateful, and they have made it easier for me than anything else.

“It has been a bit of a change with different people, but everyone has been very, very good on and off the pitch. Everyone has been very welcoming. I am very grateful that they have made the transition easy. It has been very nice,” Carroll noted.

Although St. Brigid’s were left reeling after losing their grip on the Fahey Cup when succumbing to Pádraig Pearses following a champioship quarter-final thriller that needed extra time last year, Carroll stated that revenge is not on the minds of the St. Brigid’s players as they get ready to embark on another Fahey Cup campaign where, once again, they will be one of the sides favoured to be in the shake-up for success.

“The lads will have hurt from last year, that it didn’t go to plan. But we are very much just about a game at a time. Tonight was the next game, and we got the result. We will go on to the next one and just take it one at a time.

“There are no real end goals. We just want a performance, and we want a result. Tonight was that one and in a few weeks’ time, we will be ready for the next one. That is how we take it,” he stated.

St. Brigid’s manager Anthony Cunningham was pleased with his side’s league campaign, losing only two out of 12 games that saw them retain their title with a straightforward 2-17 to 0-10 triumph against Roscommon Gaels.

“We were down the county players. There were eight or nine of them on the (Roscommon) panel. In fairness to the other players, some didn’t even get to tog until tonight. We had a very good league. We got to use a lot of different players, and we got a lot of different games, so it is great.

“It (the league) is very well-run here in Roscommon. The games happen when they are meant to. We are delighted. We were involved with the intermediate team as well, so we are getting games. A lot of football but, for us, it is all about championship. Tonight’s match will help us in that regard. You can take nothing for granted, as we learned last year,” he claimed.

As Cunningham prepared to depart to the dressing room, he gave a wry smile and a chuckle when asked whether St. Brigid's were now the hunters instead of the hunted?

“We are the hunters, definitely. We have a few scores to settle,” he hinted.