Trips down memory lane against Monaghan
John Evans delivered a big team talk before Roscommon played Monaghan at Dr. Hyde Park in 2013. Picture: INPHO/Cathal Noonan
I see the senior men’s footballers are down to play Monaghan this weekend. That brings me on a trip down memory lane.
It’s funny which things stick in the mind from games of yesteryear. There are many moments from games going back nearly 30 years that resurface from time to time in my head.
There’s no real rhyme nor reason to them — it could be something innocuous enough like a hop-ball or a bigger moment like kicking an important score.
In the case of Monaghan, a couple of memories come back. The first one is not a nice one. I got sent off once in my career with Roscommon and it was in a league game against them in the Hyde sometime in the late noughties I reckon.
We lost the game. The sending off happened late on. I had received what I felt was a harsh yellow card in the first half and was on edge for the rest of the game. Not-so-clever me then went in to tackle a small corner-forward over near the sideline on the stand side.
Not many people will appreciate this but it can be very difficult to tackle a much shorter opponent. A slight duck by them is all it takes to make a decent tackle look like a high hit. That’s what happened. The ref was quick to throw out a second yellow and off I trudged.
It was relatively inconsequential as the match was as good as over at that stage, but it was still a shameful experience. That few seconds of the short walk off the pitch and past the manager with the head down is the memory that regularly resurfaces.
Luckily enough, the second most prominent memory to do with Monaghan is a much more positive one. I kicked a long-range winning point in the last minute. It was another league game in the Hyde, this time in 2013 under John Evans.
Again, it’s funny the things that stick in the mind. I remember a few things from the team talk before that game. One was that they had a decent corner-forward who we needed to shut down. I’d never heard of Conor McManus. I didn’t notice him at all on the day either. We must have done a good job keeping him quiet. I think it was another couple of years before he really took off and fulfilled his potential.
Another thing from pre-game was John Evans getting fairly specific with myself and my midfield partner, Kevin Higgins, about our attacking play. He was to shoot only from the left hand side, and for me it was from the right hand side only.
Kevin liked to do his own thing anyway and so went out in the second half and kicked a fine point on the run from the right hand side. And at the end of the game with it tied at 0-7 apiece, Niall Daly passed me a ball just outside the ‘45 on the left hand side and I pinged a sweet strike over the bar at the scoreboard end to win it.
That would be worth two points these days. I wonder can we go back now retrospectively and award ourselves double scores for the long-range ones? I didn’t have a great scoring record with Roscommon, but that would gloss it up a bit!
Speaking of my scoring record, a friend sent me a message during the week of a social media post where it mentioned Keith Doyle has now equalled my level of goals for the Rossies — three.
I can actually only remember two myself, but I won’t argue!
Anyway, Keith will go on to beat my number by quite a few please God. He has started the year off very well, which is good news for Roscommon. We need to become more consistent in our midfield, especially with long kickouts becoming much more prevalent under the new rules. That should really suit Keith and I’d be hopeful that this is the year we’ll see him really push on and nail down that jersey for himself.
Monaghan come to town this weekend at the top of the league, having shot the lights out so far. It’s another good fixture for us — as in it’s winnable but it’ll be far from easy, just like the opening two rounds.
I’d imagine there’ll be more changes to the starting 15. There’s often a difficult balance for management to strike in the league. They want to get a look at some new players and different combinations, but chopping and changing can mean lowering the quality and losing games.
I feel the Roscommon management are in a relatively strong position in this regard as we have great strength in depth, meaning there won’t be much if any drop in quality if they shuffle their cards a bit.
Look at the scoring figures so far. Roscommon have averaged 25 points per game. Monaghan are over 30. Both concede over 20 points per game. They’re also two teams with their sights firmly set on playing Division One football again next year. All that means we could be in for a cracker in the Hyde this Sunday.
Speaking of crackers, isn’t it mad to think how many really good games there have been already and we’re only two rounds into the National League?! The TV coverage has been great. Between TG4 and RTÉ, there could be four or five televised games on a weekend.
The ladies’ footballers went down to Galway on Sunday in Tuam Stadium, but the fact that they were so competitive should mean they maintained the momentum from the Clare win the week before.
Galway will go on and top the group at their ease. Cork will join them. Roscommon’s job is to beat the rest.
The new and returning players seem to bedding in really well. The likes of Gráinne Lohan, Ria Lennon, Abby Curran and Niamh Watson weren’t involved last year but have been consistently top performers at club level. It’s refreshing to have them bring that to county level now.
They have this weekend off before they host Donegal on Sunday week. Donegal have been a consistently strong senior team in recent years but, currently, their form-lines are not so good and Roscommon could have a real shot at turning them over.
I see the team have a fundraiser organised for this weekend. I know from my involvement at this level in the past how important it is for them to have at least one big money-maker each year to help with the expense of running an intercounty team.
The pulling power of the men’s game means it takes in a lot more in terms of sponsorship and gate receipts. Players usually don’t have to get involved in raising funds, luckily enough.
It’s different for the ladies though.
Go on to their social media channels and you’ll see county ladies’ football teams the length and breadth of the country taking on one ridiculous challenge or another in an effort to raise funds.
The Rossiettes are running a “Solo Marathon”. I shouldn’t scoff at the ridiculousness of some of these challenges. Just a few years back when I was manager I spent a few hours cycling a gym bike alongside the players. The power generated from our cycling was used to run a cinema showing of ‘The Greatest Showman’ — the cinema experience powered by the Roscommon ladies’ footballers. That was our big fundraiser for the year.
Equality is a buzz word in many areas at the moment and in terms of football many would like to see equal levels of preparation and resources at the disposal of men’s and ladies’ football teams. The massive gap in the money coming in to each group means that’s a big challenge.
Supporting events like this is a good way to ensure the Rossiettes get all they need to perform to their best this year. Go online and search ‘Roscommon LGFA Go Fund Me’.
