O’Meara wants Gaels to build on last year’s progress
Tim Gilmore, Ronan O'Meara and Diarmuid Mulry from Roscommon Gaels at the launch of the local senior hurling championship in Hannon's Hotel. Picture: Courtesy of Roscommon Hurling
Usually, the main story of any club championship revolves around the winners and their path to glory.
Despite Four Roads swatting aside all their challengers in last year’s campaign to taste county glory, arguably, the story of the 2023 Roscommon Senior Hurling Championship was the competitiveness of Roscommon Gaels.
The Roscommon Town based-side previously suffered the difficult experience of being the only one of the seven teams eliminated from the group stage. However, last year was a major step forward for the Gaels as they won two of their four group games before losing out to Oran at the quarter-final stage.
Ahead of the start of the 2024 championship, Roscommon Gaels manager Ronan O’Meara believes that his side can take belief from their upsurge in form last year as they eye an opening round win over Oran on Sunday next, which would be a major step towards ensuring knockout hurling later in the championship.
“The two games the players won last year against Oran and Pearses gave them confidence. Come the quarter-final, inexperience caught them out so a lot of them young lads are a year older and a year wiser. Their hurling has developed as well. The more hurling they get, the stronger they will get,” the former Nickey Rackard Cup winner noted.
Roscommon Gaels’ success in winning the recent junior championship has served to boost morale within the ranks as the Lisnamult-based side aim to take the next step.
“We want to be progressing further. The way I look at it is that Oran beat us in the championship last year. Our inexperience cost us that day and I would feel that we left opportunities behind us. Oran then took Athleague to extra time and could have won that game.
“It is not (climbing) Mount Everest to get to a final, but it is depending on a lot of different things. There could be injuries to come, possibly suspensions, so all those things can play a part, not just for us but every team. But I would like to think Roscommon Gaels would have a good say in the championship,” he concluded.
