It’s now or never for this group of Roscommon players
Ben O'Carroll and his Roscommon team-mates will be looking for an improved performance against Meath. Picture: INPHO/Juan Gasparini
Back in 19th century America, there were many pockets of the vast country where alcohol was not readily available. It was the early knockings of Prohibition.
As a result, “The Last Chance Saloon” became a popular name for bars located near such areas — to indicate to travellers that this was their final opportunity to enjoy a few “sociables”.
During the 20th century, this common name for a public house entered the sporting lexicon on a regular basis as a metaphor for a last-gasp opportunity at success.
It’s a phrase that I’ve heard bandied around a few times this past week about Roscommon’s joust with Meath in the Hyde on Saturday evening. I get it insofar as there's a palpable feeling out there that if we can’t muster a big performance now, then our season is surely as good as over.
It’s not quite “the last chance saloon” though. That’ll be the Cork game. Win, lose or draw this weekend, it’ll still come down to the battle with the Rebels.
But let’s go back to that feeling of “now or never” in terms of this year’s championship for us. We’ve flattered to deceive for the last couple of months now. Supporters are struggling to see enough glimmers of hope to suggest we’re about to turn things around.
For me, it’s not that negative at all. This team, under this management, have produced their biggest performances when least expected. I’m thinking Mayo in 2023 and Tyrone last year in the preliminary quarter-final.
When we saw the draw for the All-Ireland Series last month, we could have guessed that this group would essentially be a battle between ourselves, Meath and Cork for the two qualification spots alongside Kerry. Ideally, we’d want to beat both of them and avoid a preliminary quarter-final on the road.
So let’s set aside any disappointment at our defeat in Killarney. The biggest game of our year to date comes this Saturday.
I hope we see a big crowd there. The downturn in weather probably won’t help, and neither will the insipid nature of some of our recent performances.
But, as quickly as things have seemed to go downhill, a win here will turn everything on its head.
Meath’s response to their Leinster final defeat was impressive as they managed to regain their composure and edge out Cork in a tight battle last Saturday afternoon. They’ll be buzzing coming to town this weekend, knowing that a win likely assures their passage straight to the knockout stages.
We’ll have to deliver our best showing of the year to beat them.
We’re a bit like a jumbled-up jigsaw at the moment. All the pieces are there — we’ve just got to put them in the right places.
We’ve got to stick with the Keith Doyle/Eddie Nolan axis in midfield and build our possession-winning tactics around them. Of course, those lads can contribute more in other parts of the field, but competing for and winning long kickouts is such a vital component of the game now that we can’t afford to mess around here.
Conor Carroll is excellent on the restarts, both long and short. Doyle should be his number one target but Nolan is also well able to compete in the air, and I'd like to see us using Enda Smith more here too to give us a third clear option.
There were definite signs of improvement in our full-back line the last day in Killarney. Consequently, I hope they get another chance to line out together this weekend. Ronan Daly did well too and surely merits another start in the number 6 position.
The balance of the team is very important for me and so I hope we stick with similar type players as started in the wing-positions against Kerry. They enabled us to compete strongly for breaking ball and can help us to transition at pace.
Speaking of transitioning, that’s an area we can make gains in. If we can go back to a more free-flowing style of movement through the middle third and take some more risks up front, I think we’ll reap rewards.
While I see the tactical reasons behind slowing our attacks down, I’m not convinced that it suits our players and would prefer to see more players willing to take on their men and punch holes in the Meath defence.
Our last two games have seen us come up short against two of the best teams in the country. Playing against those top teams can be a tough learning curve but shines a clear light on areas to be improved upon.
If we’ve paid heed and worked on those areas, we could well be primed to finally kick into championship gear this Saturday in the Hyde.
Bring it on!
On Sunday, our intermediate ladies’ team finally get into championship action in Portlaoise.
The lack of a Connacht Intermediate Championship has meant they’ve endured two months of inactivity. That’s crazy and a stark contrast to our opponents this weekend, Laois, who, just a couple of weeks ago, lost the Leinster final to Westmeath.
For any team with realistic aspirations to win an All-Ireland intermediate title — and I’d hope Roscommon are one of those — getting out of the group stage should be a mere formality.
There’s four groups of three teams and the top two in each group qualify for the quarter-finals. That’s when the serious stuff really begins.
For the Rossiettes, it’ll be interesting to see how they come out of that long period without a game. They’ve hit the challenge game circuit in recent weeks but, of course, that’s no replacement for the cut-and-thrust of championship games which teams from Leinster and Ulster experienced (there was no Munster championship either as Clare are the only intermediate team down there).
I can see pros and cons to that long lay-off. The lack of match sharpness is the obvious con. On the other hand though, it has presented the Roscommon management with a great opportunity to get in a heavy block of training and prime themselves to hit peak performance levels over the next few weeks.
When games are coming at you every week or two, it’s very difficult to do any extra fitness work and you don’t want to overload players by giving them too many tactical changes between games.
A long eight-week block will have allowed Roscommon to finely tune all aspects of their game. I’d be hoping they’ll burst into action this Sunday but rustiness has to be a worry.
Laois are a decent team and will provide a good read on where Roscommon are at. Laois and Fermanagh will play the following weekend, with Roscommon playing Fermanagh in the final game of the group in Kiltoom a week later.
Fermanagh are the underdogs in the group but could turn out to be very tricky opposition. They won the All-Ireland Junior Championship last year and while they didn’t progress past their first round in the Ulster Championship, that was a very close competition and they only lost out to a strong Tyrone team by three points.
So while I say that Roscommon should be aiming to come out of this group with a bit to spare, there are no guarantees. If we’re not on top of our game, we could easily be in a relegation battle instead.
This Sunday will tell a lot.
*Please continue to send your thoughts and ideas for this column to me at mfinneran.mf@gmail.com.
