St. Croan’s hoping to build on county success
BACK AT IT: St. Croan's captain Ger Connaugton and manager Vinnie Egan return to Connacht club championship action on Sunday. Picture: Bernie O'Farrell
The lure of future prosperity on the provincial stage is sure to have tickled St. Croan’s fancy this week as the Roscommon Junior A football champions prepare to welcome Cloonacool for a Connacht club championship quarter-final to King and Moffatt Dr. Hyde Park on Sunday (throw-in at 1.30 p.m.).
Roscommon teams have a poor record in the competition but, arguably, St. Croan’s is the strongest team to emerge from the junior ranks in a number of years, fuelling hopes of a good run in Connacht.
Only Tulsk Lord Edwards in 2004 and Fuerty 2013 have claimed provincial glory at this level, while St. Ronan’s were the last Roscommon team to reach the decider in 2022 when they were soundly beaten by Clifden from Galway.
However, St. Croan’s are no strangers to provincial success, having won the Connacht intermediate title in 2014 — a journey that took them all the way to Croke Park for an All-Ireland decider against Arfert from Kerry in February 2015.
In that regard, having manager Vinnie Egan alongside selectors Eamon Towey and Gerard Leech — who were part of that panel — alongside an experienced cohort of players still involved will be a valuable asset as St. Croan’s try and build on their county success.
Certainly, their 1-13 to 0-7 win against Ballinameen was in keeping with the comfort zone that Croan’s have found themselves operating in this year. They were far too good for the Junior A ranks, and while things will get much tougher, starting on Sunday, there will be a confidence among the Ballintubber/Ballymoe men that they can flourish over the coming weeks.
With the winners of Sunday’s game set for a Connacht semi-final against Mayo champions, Kiltimagh, the following weekend, the games will be coming thick and fast.
Crucially, St. Croan’s have a strong spine that won’t baulk at the prospect of winter football, and goalkeeper Michael Holland, captain Ger Connaugton, Greg Grogan, Kevin Smyth, Aidan Brogan and Cathal Conneely will have a role in reminding the younger players in the squad that the incline on the mountain will become steeper from now on.
Ross Timothy picked up an injury in the county final, and his absence would be sorely felt. But the enthusiasm of Ryan Hanley, Eoin Collins and Alan Conroy, alongside Adam Bracken’s physicality in the middle of the field, gives St. Croan’s plenty of options in their efforts to get their provincial campaign up and running with a victory.
Cloonacool and Eastern Harps couldn’t be separated in the Sligo decider first time out before Cloonacool edged a tense replay, 1-15 to 1-14. Having lost the final after a replay against Ballymote the previous year, it was a sweet victory for the newly-crowned champions.
Veteran Hughie Marren, Aaron Moylan, Michael Clifford, Kevin Carnahan, and Eoin Carty will take watching, but Croan’s should be good enough to reach the last four.
