Top-flight football has stood to Tulsk

The end of July often brings about a sea of change.

The weather becomes cooler, thoughts of returning to school start to occupy the minds of students and parents alike while, on the GAA front, the attention shifts from the intercounty season to the club campaign.

Still, during the earlier part of the year when much of the focus is on the intercounty scene, club players are busy toiling away in their various leagues. For Tulsk Lord Edwards manager Liam McNeill, the leagues in Roscommon are a hidden gem, insisting that his side’s run to this year’s intermediate final was boosted by playing, and surviving, in the O’Rourke Cup.

“We started the year in senior league. I suppose our first target was to stay competitive, and we did that. Then our next target was obviously to win the intermediate championship. To win the intermediate championship, you have to get to the final, so it’s just step one at a time.

“We would have been very serious about the senior league. We worked very hard to get to the senior league last year (by winning the O’Gara Cup). It's a huge thing to be playing teams like Roscommon Gaels, Brigid’s, Pearses, Clann, Castlerea and Oran, week in, week out.

“How can you get better preparation than playing 11 senior league games at that level? It was brilliant. We would have been very strong and competitive in every game,” McNeill highlighted.

For former Roscommon midfielder, Tadhg O’Rourke, last year was a bitter pill to swallow. After a rousing league campaign which culminated in them defeating Éire Óg in the O’Gara Cup final, Tulsk breezed through the group stages of the championship before coming unstuck against Fuerty at the quarter-final stage.

Consequently, O’Rourke admits that his side adjusted their training plan to ensure they didn’t peak too early, like they did 12 months ago.

“When Liam came in last year, we started off very well. We had a very strong league but we probably fell away as the year went on, finishing up in a defeat to Fuerty.

“This year, we’ve taken a different approach in that we didn’t go as hard in the spring-time with the intention that when we got into the group stages, we could build from there and perform. But, in saying that, I don’t think we have hit a 60-minute performance yet in any game, even though I think we are getting a little bit closer to it,” O’Rourke noted.

When it is put to McNeill that Éire Óg will feel that it is a case of “now or never”, he insists that Tulsk will possess that same mentality heading into Sunday’s final in the Hyde.

“We feel the very same way. We feel that it's our turn. All the pressure is on Éire Óg.

“If you look at Éire Óg, they've been in finals, and they've come up short. They’ve brought in a huge management team in Niall Daly and John Rogers. John is a county senior selector, and you factor in the experience that Niall Daly has. It's a huge intent from them to push on to try and achieve what they wanted at the start of the year,” McNeill stated.

With Éire Óg trying to become champions and eradicate the “nearly-men” tag that has been stuck to them after losing three out of the last four county intermediate finals, O’Rourke has nothing but admiration for the way Sunday’s opponents have continued to chase their dream of playing senior championship football, despite their county final reversals.

“Without doubt, we've had plenty of battles with Éire Óg over the last few years at all levels — senior league, intermediate, everything, even a league final last year as well.

“Personally, I'd have a lot of admiration for them and the fact that they do keep coming back. Take the finals where they've come up slightly short, they’ve performed really well, and they still manage to pull it together and come back again the following year.

“There would be a lot of admiration for the way they've gone about it. As Liam said, they've a great management ticket put together this year. No more than ourselves, they can come to the boil at the right time,” O’Rourke contended.

For McNeill, the standard of club football is extremely high. In his view, it is refreshing to see the rise in quality across every grade, ensuring that whoever emerges from the county is ready for a crack at the provincial championships.

“All you have to do is look at the provincial winners over the last number of years. I predicted last year that the county champions in junior, intermediate and senior would win the Connacht club competitions. I came up short with Croan’s losing on penalties. The other two were provincial winners. Croan’s were just very unlucky.

“That's the standard of every level in Roscommon. It's huge. And you look at the junior championship this year. Aidan's, Ballinameen, Clann’s second team — three superb teams. One of them is going to play in the intermediate championship next year.

“Even this year, I was just so impressed when watching St. Barry's this year. Shannon Gaels too. That's the standard. Teams that probably people once said, who are they? They're really strong now. They're developing, they're working hard, and they're improving the whole time,” he noted.

No more so than Tulsk, who have worked hard to improve and peak at the right time under the expert guidance of Liam McNeill.