Sammon delivers ‘Louth’ and clear message
Roscommon senior hurling manager, Kevin Sammon, is hoping that his players can grasp their opportunity against Louth and qualify for this season's Nickey Rackard Cup final against Mayo. Picture: Gerard O'Loughlin
Kevin Sammon has challenged his players to “look after their side of the house” when his players travel to Dowdallshill on Saturday for their final Nickey Rackard Cup group game against Louth (throw-in at 2 p.m.).
Roscommon’s 17-point victory against Fermanagh in King and Moffatt Dr. Hyde Park on Sunday afternoon means that they have a six-point headstart on Sligo in terms of scoring difference, with both sides deadlocked in second place on the table on five points following their draw in Markievicz Park earlier in the campaign.
A win on Saturday, at least matching Sligo’s result against Armagh in the process, will book a final berth in Croke Park against Mayo, and the Roscommon manager feels his side are in a good place after swatting aside the challenge of the Ernesiders.
“Our first aim was to come here and win the game. If you said to me at the start of the game that we’d win a game by 17 points, you’d take it all day long. We’re going into the final (group) game of the competition, and we’re still there.
“The thing was to get the scores on the board and we did that.
“We’ve a very short turnaround. We’ve only six days until next Saturday. Hopefully, we haven’t picked up any injuries,” he reflected.
An Armagh win against Sligo coupled with a Roscommon loss in Louth will see the Orchard County reach the final. Consequently, the permutations are plentiful but Sammon is only concerned with Roscommon looking after their side of the bargain.
“There are no guarantees because there are other games to be played. We’ll look after our side of the house and let the others look after their side of the house. Hopefully that will be enough.
“Today was all about getting a win and taking it to the last day. The aim at the start of the year was to get into the top two. We’re in a good position but there’s still plenty to play for,” concluded the Roscommon boss.
