‘Previous defeats have made us tougher’
Seán Fahy, Pádraig Pearses; Michael McNama, St. Ronan’s; Robbie Kelly, St. Brigid’s, and Ronan Cox, St. Michael’s, vice-captain, at training in Kilteevan ahead of Saturday's All-Ireland Masters football final against Tyrone. Pictures: Courtesy of Roscommon GAA
One word that sums up the Roscommon Masters team’s journey to Saturday’s All-Ireland final is resilience.
The Rossies have suffered their fair share of heartbreaking defeats over the years. However, they have come back this season and managed to ensure they are among the top two teams in the country.
Despite losing to Mayo by a point in last year’s Plate final, Ian Kilbride — now in his second year with the group — knew the players were capable of going further. The captain believes that, as a result, Roscommon have gained confidence from being able to compete against the best in recent times.
“We have gleaned a small bit of confidence from being able to compete against strong teams,” he told the .
“When you go back to Mayo last year, they were a very good team, and we could have beaten them. So it gave us a small bit of confidence this year that may have been lacking before.
“It is great to move up the standings this year. We were in the top two in the table during the group stages and then, going into the Kerry match, we had nothing to lose. In years gone by, there might have been a bit of trepidation facing a team like Kerry who had some former senior stars on their team.
“In fairness to the guys, there was no lack of confidence and no stone left unturned in the preparation. As a result, the players on the pitch didn’t hold back. There was no standing back and admiring them, so hopefully we can do the same Saturday against Tyrone,” Kilbride noted.
The former St. Brigid’s player, who famously won an All-Ireland club title with his native club in 2013, was unable to line out in his side’s narrow All-Ireland semi-final triumph over Kerry due to a knee complaint.
He hopes to be back for this Saturday’s final but despite his frustration at being unable to affect the outcome of the game, he feels that his side’s ability to deal with adversity and player unavailability during the year has been their main weapons.
“It was frustrating for me personally, but it has been the same all year. There is no one player, that if you took them out, that it would tear the team apart. The players that play every week change a bit but whoever plays does a really good job and they put their heart and soul into it for the time they are on.
"At times the execution hasn’t been as good as it could have been but our determination to fight until the very end and eke out results has been our thing this year,” he stated.
The upsurge in public interest since their semi-final win has been noticeable according to the All-Ireland club winner. With many of the players juggling club duties and travelling from all parts of the country, Kilbride feels people are recognising the effort and commitment from the group.
“I remember seeing a couple of the Brigid’s lads playing online, notably Mark Gavin play a few years ago. I was thinking to myself I would be interested in getting involved with that when it comes my time.
“Then I was lucky enough to get the call off Anthony (Carroll) last year. I have noticed the buzz around it grow and I wouldn’t have been expecting people to be asking me about it.
“People were bringing it up in conversation and there seems to be a knowledge going around about how we were doing this year. The interest is building so hopefully we can go out, enjoy it and get the job done,” he concluded.
