Hard to see Donegal pulling up the handbrake

The visit of Division One table-toppers Donegal to King and Moffatt Dr. Hyde Park on Sunday afternoon will be the sternest test of Roscommon’s credentials so far.

People tend to remember a team’s last game, and while the chastening experience of an 11-point defeat against Dublin still lingers, the overall trajectory of Roscommon’s campaign has been far more prosperous than what was envisaged before Mark Dowd’s team set off for Killarney at the end of January.

In a league where the games come thick and fast, every team are entitled to an off-day. The hope is that the bad day at the office — from a Roscommon perspective — was the flat performance against Dublin where, quite frankly, they didn’t show up.

Consistency is the buzz word among the top teams who are used to life at this level. The most consistent of the lot this term has been Donegal. Jim McGuinness has crafted an energetic, skillful, high-powered unit where, even if performance levels drop by a few per cent, they never fall off a cliff like Roscommon did against Dublin.

It has been an old failing of Roscommon teams over the years but the below-par performance against Dublin shouldn’t impact the outcome on Sunday.

For a start, the two-week sabbatical will have allowed the players and management to recharge the batteries. Roscommon looked like a team that had gone too deep into the well in finding a way to beat Armagh and Galway. Against Dublin, the spark, particularly up front, was missing.

Even Jim McGuinness referenced how everyone needed a break in the aftermath of his side’s stalemate against Galway in Ballyshannon. Life at this level is unforgiving, and players are only human.

So, while Roscommon are likely to be much improved from the last day, expect Donegal to rediscover the form that saw them get the better of Kerry and Mayo at home and pick up victories on the road in Croke Park and the BOX-IT Athletic grounds.

Consequently, unless Mother Nature intervenes, a right good game is in store.

And yet, despite Donegal being the pacesetters in the division, Roscommon will feel that they can spring a surprise. That has always been the way between two counties that love their football — that they fancy their chances of beating each other.

For Roscommon to triumph, they’ll have to curb the influence of Conor O’Donnell, Michael Langan and Finbarr Roarty. O’Donnell has lit up the league by taking the most direct route to goal, Langan has been magnificent in the middle third with his ability to land two-pointers a dangerous weapon in Donegal’s artillery, while Roarty has kicked on from winning last season’s Young Footballer of the Year with a series of superb performances where he often ends up making big plays anywhere on the pitch.

And what about Michael Murphy? Will he be asked to make the trip to the Hyde to ensure that Donegal pretty much cement their place in the league final with a win?

For Roscommon, it’s about getting back to basics. Only Senan Lambe and Colm Neary showed the energy and drive that was required against Dublin. The attacking threat of Daire Cregg, Diarmuid Murtagh and Enda Smith was closed down, and while Roscommon need more scores from elsewhere, that trio needs to get back to what they do best.

While Roscommon’s safety in the division could be assured if Dublin beat Armagh on Saturday evening, it would be lovely for the Rossies to consolidate their position in the top flight on their own terms.

That’s a tall order though, given the form we’ve seen from Donegal so far. It’s doubtful that the visitors will pull up the handbrake like they did last year. A greater gap to the Ulster championship and the value of a national title should see to that.

The Rossies will, hopefully, bound into the Hyde like spring lambs and ask the necessary questions but Donegal — like they have done all season — are likely to have the answers.

Verdict: Donegal