Sugrue looking forward to different test

Their “ideal break” is coming to an end, and St. Brigid’s are ready and looking forward to getting back into action at Dr. Hyde Park again this weekend in the Connacht senior club championship quarter-final, according to inside forward Ciarán Sugrue.

The attacker, who picked up his second county medal thanks to the Kiltoom and Cam parish side’s 0-12 to 0-11 win over Boyle, feels that the preparation for their clash with Sligo’s Coolera-Strandhill has gone well, and he’s confident of a strong showing this week.

“Three weeks is just perfect, it gives you time to enjoy the win. We had a great couple of days just among ourselves as a group, and by the Friday of that week, everyone was ready to get back to work,” he told the Roscommon Herald.

“We’ve trained well since then, we’ve had a bit of time to look at Coolera-Strandhill to see what they’re about. Of course, they’re a good side, anyone who wins a county title has earned respect. But we feel we’re ready to get back into action, and it’s great to get a third game in a row in the Hyde, where we feel right at home too.”

Expectation has been building around Kiltoom, and around the county. Roscommon’s representatives are due to play at home against every potential opponent, so St. Brigid’s could conceivably win the Shane McGettigan Cup without leaving the Hyde. Add in a draw that places the Galway and Mayo flag bearers — Corofin and Ballina — on the opposite side, and it’s easy to see why the bookmakers have placed Jerome Stack’s side in sixth place in the pecking order of potential All-Ireland club title winners.

“We haven’t thought like that all year and we’re not going to start now. I would say that we’re looking forward to this test and seeing how far we can push ourselves, to try and keep working together and to get stronger and stronger. Every game we can win gives us the chance to keep training and to keep improving,” he replied.

“In 2020, we were a very young team, and we knew from the start that the Roscommon senior final was the end of the road, win or lose. It was only since that win, watching Pearses win Connacht and watching Strokestown play really well too — they were very unlucky against Maigh Cuileann last year — that we’ve started to think about what we missed.

“So we don’t see it as bonus territory, and we’re not thinking about All-Irelands either, we just see this Sunday as a chance to test ourselves against a different opponent, a side with a lot of quality and that will really push us, and see if we can keep our season going.”

Sugrue cites the quality of Sligo talisman Niall Murphy and fellow county senior panelists Keelan Cawley and Peter Laffey (team captain) as evidence of the quality that the Sligo seaside club will bring to Roscommon on Sunday, while Ross Doherty and Mark McDaniel both started this year’s All-Ireland U-20 final against Kildare at Kingspan Breffni. They lined out at wing-forward, scoring a couple of points each, in last month’s 0-11 to 0-8 win over St. Molaise Gaels in the Sligo county final.

However like so many modern teams, it’s collective defensive strength that has been the lynchpin for the team managed by Adrian McPartland and Enda Mitchell. Since the first weekend of September, when they conceded 0-11 to Tourlestrane in a three-point defeat, they have played four club championship games and conceded ten scores or less in each one. They had five points conceded by the halfway point of the first half of the county final, and then went into complete lockdown from there, coming from four points down to win their third ever senor championship title.

“Every team you meet at this stage will have a strong defensive system, you can’t survive without it,” Sugrue noted.

“It’s up to us to find a way through that, and like the Boyle game, the name of the game is to find a way to be in front at the end, regardless of the margin or the total.

“It’s just been so enjoyable to be back training, and to be playing competitive football at this time of year. If you’re still training with your club in November, you’ve done something right, so whatever Sunday throws at us, it’s great to be in the position where we have the chance to see if we can find a way through it.” 

And while plenty of people around the county will wish St. Brigid’s all the best in their bid to win a first Connacht title in over a decade, lots of Roscommon eyes will also be on the county champions with a view to seeing who will be ready to hit the ground running in 2024 with the county.

Sugrue is one of those players in that conversation after some impressive displays inside the county, but it’s an ambition that he’s happy to put on hold for the next few weeks at least.

“Everyone in this St. Brigid’s group wants to develop as individuals as much as we can because that feeds into what the team can achieve, and we all want to bring as much success as possible to the club. I want to be part of that and I’ll do whatever I can to make that happen, but that’s all that I can control,” he admitted.

“If any opportunity comes up and I get asked to play for Roscommon, I’ll take it and I’d be delighted to have that chance, but I can’t do anything about that. What we can do is put our heads down and make sure we make the most of the chance we have right now to do something for the club in Connacht.

“There are players in the group who have been part of successful provincial campaigns and there are lots of players that have no experience of these types of games whatsoever. I’m part of that group, and I can’t wait to see what it’s like this Sunday. Our goal was the county final so this is a successful year no matter what happens, but after missing out on this opportunity before, we really want to make the most of it this time around,” he concluded.

*Throw in at Dr. Hyde Park on Sunday is 2 p.m..