If Mayo can do it, why can’t Roscommon?

It has been a recurring question in my head since Mayo’s heroics in Croke Park on Sunday last — will Roscommon ever win the Sam Maguire Cup in my lifetime?

The team that Roscommon humiliated in Castlebar only a few months ago have turned things around to scale their Mount Everest. It’s an unprecedented story for the ages, a story that the whole country has become invested in because we feel as if we’ve been part of the journey — how Mayo finally emerged from their House of Pain to conquer a prized possession that eluded them for 75 years.

The celebrations have been raucous in Castlebar, Ballyhaunis and beyond this week, everything we imagined they might be when a stone-mad county for football finally delivers. That they did it at a time when it was least expected, among their support base and neutrals at least, makes it all the more special.

Andy Moran is now the Jurgen Klopp of Mayo football. His love for the game alongside moulding a team that replicates his infectious enthusiasm has been the perfect match for Mayo’s identity.

The way they dismantled Kerry was a tribute to Moran’s ability as a coach. But, arguably, this All-Ireland final was won under the bowels of the Hogan Stand in the aftermath of Mayo’s 3-23 to 0-15 victory over Louth a couple of weeks earlier.

Moran took umbrage at the suggestion that Mayo fans, based on past experiences, might not lose of the run of themselves in the lead-up last Sunday’s final against Kerry.

“Let them go mad”, he urged, cementing the unity between the players and their supporters. This week, they’ve taken madness to a different stratosphere.

Hailing from North Roscommon, I’m not in a position to comment on the Mayo/Roscommon rivalry in Ballaghaderreen. For me growing up, nothing beat getting the better of Sligo or Leitrim.

I’ve read the stories of how best friends become divorced on the week of a Mayo/Roscommon match. But you have to be from Frenchpark, Tiobhine, Loughlglynn, Lisacul or Gorthaganny to understand what makes the rivalry tick.

But, surely, any fair-minded person in these areas can put that rivalry to one side and appreciate that a local lad is heavily responsible for one of the feel-good stories across the country and beyond this week. The welcome Moran and the rest of the Ballghaderreen contingent will receive on Thursday evening will be a testament to that.

I’m also sure that those same people in West Roscommon will be asking themselves the same question that has been whirling around in my head since 5.30 p.m. on Sunday evening.

If Mayo can do it, why can’t Roscommon?

You’d imagine that the answer to that one is quite complex — a bit like the Mayo/Roscommon rivalry in Ballagh — but it’s fairly simple really.

Roscommon need to start competing before they can start dreaming.

Roscommon haven’t won a championship game in Croke Park since defeating Armagh in the 1980 All-Ireland semi-final.

Since 1991 — the last time Roscommon were in the All-Ireland semi-final — they have only contested six quarter-finals (2001, 2003, 2010, 2017 and 2023), including a replay against Mayo in 2017.

Of course, there were the Super 8s in 2018 and 2019, which weren’t strictly quarter-finals, where Roscommon’s record read: Played 6, Won 1, Lost 5. That’s the record of a county on the outside looking in when it comes to being talked about as Sam Maguire Cup contenders, despite dipping in and out of Division One League football since 2016.

We often hear that Roscommon are punching above their weight but that’s not really the case outside of Connacht.

Or to put it another way — since Roscommon last won a championship game in Croke Park 46 years ago, Mayo have played in 14 All-Ireland senior football finals, including replays and last Sunday’s historic success.

It’s in Mayo’s, and indeed Galway’s, DNA to be in the shake-up for honours. Connacht titles are the height of Roscommon’s ambitions for now. It’s a reality that Mark Dowd must meet head-on during his tenure in charge.

Maybe, the sight of Jack Coyne lifting the Sam Maguire Cup for our neighbours will be the tipping point. But Mayo’s success will inspire every other county as well.

Yes, we can dare to dream but, realistically, we need to start competing first.