Four Roads and St. Dominic’s in the box seat
Mickey Joe Egan and his St. Dominic's team-mates will be trying to book their place in the Roscommon senior hurling final when they face Athleague on Sunday afternoon. Picture: Gerard O'Loughlin
Here's the Roscommon Herald's preview of this afternoon's Roscommon Senior Hurling Championship Semi-Finals in Ballyforan...
A case of form meeting experience.
With the former, St. Dominic’s have been the standout team in the championship to date while Athleague have reached five of the last six county finals.
Last year’s beaten finalists will have Naoise Coyle and Cian Murray back in contention, but Aengus Lyons will miss out after returning to Australia.
Manager Tom Bannon admits that inconsistency has been a feature of his side’s campaign to date although he feels that his charges can benefit from coming into Sunday’s last four clash slightly under the radar.
“Having reviewed the video of the quarter-final against Oran, we weren’t too bad. The first half was a very even game. The conditions didn’t help but we were disappointed with the third quarter and, obviously, we needed the goal at the end to win it. We wouldn’t be happy with the way we played in the second half, but we dug it out and that has been a theme all year,” he conceded.
“To be honest, Dominic’s are probably the team in form across the board. They have really improved on last year. They have drawn with Four Roads, put six goals past Pearses and they were ruthless against Tremane. We know they have the likes of Mickey Joe (Egan), alongside Jack Lohan and Micheál Byrne in the backline so they are a coming team.
“We are under no illusions that we need to get the performance levels up because from the outside looking in Dominic’s are probably going into this game as favourites, which is probably no harm for our lads to get them going,” he explained.
Noel Watson and Cormac Petrie continue to nurse long-term shoulder injuries for St. Dominic’s. John Murray suffered a finger injury prior to the Tremane affair but could feature in some capacity this Sunday.
Their manager Michael ‘Thady’ Beirne knows that his side face a tricky assignment but believes St. Dominic’s have shown they can progress to only a second county final since the turn of the century.
“It would be massive to get there. It would be a serious boost for the panel. In fairness, the boys deserve it because they are putting in the work. It’s not a fluke that we are here.
“We have 23, 24 lads training every night. We are in this for the long haul. We are building for next year and the year after that to keep lads together.
“The goal at the start of the year was to make a semi-final, so we would be in bonus territory after that, but it would be massive for this group of players. Around the village, everyone is asking how are we going and watching us training.
“People are wondering when we have challenge games, so they can watch them. It is great to have an interest back in it. To get to a final would be massive,” the St. Dominic’s manager stated.
Despite St. Dominic’s scoring 15 goals in this year’s championship, Athleague’s big game experience should be beneficial to them if they are within striking distance down the stretch.
However, this is a golden opportunity for St. Dominic’s to carve out a piece of history.
It’s a case of the familiar meets the new as Roscommon Gaels aim to reach their first county senior hurling final since 1972.
Ending any 52-year gap is difficult at the best of times and this promises to be a Herculean task for the Gaels against a Four Roads outfit that are aiming to move a step closer to a three-in-a row of county titles.
The underdogs, who are set to be without DJ Hession, Jack Fleming and Eoin Kiernan, have built steadily after reaching the quarter-final stages last year.
Two years ago, in his first year at the helm, Roscommon Gaels manager Ronan O’Meara was given a stern reminder of the challenge ahead when Tremane inflicted a 17-point hammering upon his charges. Even though Tremane were struck by injury when these sides met in this year’s quarter-final, it is a sign of the Gaels’ continued development that they completed a 21-point swing when defeating the 2021 county finalists, 1-19 to 3-9, less than two weeks ago.
O’Meara never lost faith in the group as he hopes they can build on their quarter-final victory.
“Two years ago, Tremane gave us a heavy beating so to turn that around and come out with a victory the last day was a big jump. Before the quarter-final, we had been working hard and trying to get our gameplan right. Tremane are not an easy team to play and they wouldn’t fear the Gaels at any stage.
“I know they were missing players, but it was important for us to get over the line, particularly after last year when we lost to Oran in the quarter-final, a team we had beaten in the group stage. We knew we were in for a tough game but thankfully we got over the line,” the Gaels manager told the .
Meanwhile, Four Roads are reporting a clean bill of health while Adam Donnelly has returned from his travels.
The reigning county champions have not reached their full potential, but they still booked a direct route to the semi-finals. Despite his side securing a comfortable triumph over Roscommon Gaels a month ago in their last championship outing, Four Roads manager Kerril Wade has warned that his charges will be playing a team who have momentum in their sails.
“It is going to be a big challenge. They are a right good team, so it will be all on the day. After our group game against the Gaels, we took a week off and then we went back at it again. Between hurling and football games, no club player in Roscommon would be idle, but we feel we have managed the gap between our last game and the semi-final well.
“It would mean everything to Four Roads to get back to a county final. Anyone that plays hurling, all you want to do is win. So with a bit of luck we will turn up and bring our plan to the table. It will be a huge challenge, but we are really looking forward to it.”
While the Gaels won’t lack enthusiasm and energy, county semi-finals are bread and butter to Four Roads, and it would be a major shock if they don’t prevail.
