Dowd describes Mayo loss as 'part of the learning curve’

Mark Dowd isn’t going to start pressing the panic button after losing to Mayo in a FBD League game in January.

But the Roscommon manager is keenly aware that his side will need to significantly improve in virtually every aspect of their performance, especially with the start of the league looming.

Speaking to the media at a damp King and Moffatt Dr. Hyde Park, Dowd stated that this time of year was about seeing new faces and taking the learnings from the heavy defeat to a more experienced Mayo outfit.

“There's no point going out and starting our strongest 15 every day and not getting to know about our panel. Today, once again, we went with a bit of experience and then some fresh lads in.

“That's a great learning curve for the newer lads coming in around us. That's why we'll go back and work again on it Wednesday night, take our learnings from that and push on again,” he noted.

With Mayo kicking six two-pointers as opposed to their hosts landing none, Roscommon’s shooting from beyond the arc is naturally going to come in for sharper focus.

“Look, it's an area that needs to be worked on, no more than different areas. The thing I'd say about them (two-pointers), did we get the ball in the right positions to have a go at them? You know, lads are smart enough to know if it's on, they'll go for it.

“If not, we're going to keep the ball, make sure we create a shot and then if it's on, we'll go for it.” 

Meanwhile, in football’s new age, the battle for breaking ball in the middle third is more crucial than ever. Roscommon were significantly outmuscled in this area as Mayo created wave after wave of attacks due to their control of the middle third.

Dowd admitted that his youthful side were given a stark reminder of how losing restarts at senior intercounty level means the opposition have the perfect platform to get shots off.

“You can see there around breaking ball, that was a huge one. They came up with a lot of it either side of half time. It’s part of the learning curve. It was about how quickly they moved it in after that. The quicker you move the ball from a kickout, you're going to get shots off.

“But, you know, Mayo are a seasoned team, they had a lot more seasoned players out there on the pitch than us. So that's a brilliant learning for us,” Dowd stated.

The Roscommon manager also stated that he won’t let the likely absence of key personnel be used as an excuse within the dressing room in the weeks ahead.

“We have what we have. That's not going to be an excuse for us in our first couple of league games — who we don't have. What we have we'll be working with, and we'll be trying to get the best out of them,” he concluded.