Moran hones in on bright future for players

For Shane Moran, it has never been about winning titles.

And while provincial silverware was an added bonus off the back of a campaign that has given many Roscommon people a multitude of memories, the Roscommon manager has never lost sight of the minor grade’s main purpose — the development of players.

The carrot dangling in front of his players at an autumnal Kingspan Breffni was massive — the opportunity to play in the county’s first All-Ireland minor final since the days of Fergal O’Donnell’s all-conquering heroes 19 years ago.

But Tyrone’s response to conceding a goal was to grab two of their own, and it was a setback that Moran agreed that his side ultimately couldn’t recover from.

“We knew that Tyrone were a fine team. But I think we only scored three points from the 25th minute. You have to do better than that if you’re going to win an All-Ireland semi-final.

“Fair play to Tyrone, a really good team. You can see that our lads are very disappointed, but good luck to Tyrone in the final.

“The two goals before half time were a killer. I felt we had a bit of oxygen at the time. We got our goal and we were moving very well. But the manner of the goal — I think it was against the run of play. Then they got another one. When things like that happen in a game, it’s just not meant to be.

“We probably needed to convert a little bit better up top. We had a lot of wides. It is what it is. We were in the last four at the end of the day. There are no easy games. When we look back and reflect on the year, it was probably a very good year,” he summarised.

“When we got the black card and Dean went in goal, it became a little flat. Fair play to Dean for saving the penalty but the energy was beginning to go out of the game at that stage. They managed the game very well. When they got the black card, they controlled possession and kept the ball very well,” he conceded.

Despite the loss, Moran was adamant that his players had bright futures ahead of them with the county.

“We've always said from the start that it wasn’t about winning titles. We did win a Connacht title but, trust me, in six or seven years’ time you’re going to see a lot of these guys in a Roscommon senior jersey.”

For Tyrone boss Gerard Donnelly, it was about making sure that his players got the message that they were playing a fine side, and that they would have to earn the right to meet Kerry in the decider in a few weeks’ time.

“That was a really good Roscommon team. I’ve watched Dara Curran, Sam Hannon and those boys for the last few weeks — they are excellent players. Everyone knew that we were unbeaten all year but I was telling our boys that Roscommon were unbeaten as well. We’re just relieved to get through this game because we’ve just beaten a really good team,” reflected Donnelly.

“We talked about a response because when you’re playing any good team, they’re going to get their time. We knew that Roscommon were going to bring a big crowd. Shane (Moran) had the team piping, and we’re just so relieved to get over this hurdle.

“We wanted to be back in another final. We’ll have to step up a wee bit now because we’ll be meeting a very good team in the final. But we got a really good test today,” he concluded.