‘We had ambitions to push on’ — Moran

There was no disguising the disappointment etched across Shane Moran’s face as he fronted up to try and explain a performance that he didn’t see coming.

Despite the four-week break between the Connacht final success and Saturday evening’s quarter-final, things had gone well in training. An injury to Enda Browne was a blow, but the Pádraig Pearses defender — despite not being named in the match-day 24 — was patched up to enable him to take his place against Derry.

Yet, Roscommon resembled a rabbit caught in the head lights, and that was all the encouragement Derry needed to eke out a victory that was every bit as comfortable as the end scoreline suggested.

“We were beaten by a superior team this evening, and that’s football. We didn’t get going at all.

“We tried to make things happen by making changes. We moved players around the pitch, but it just didn’t click. 

"We went in chasing a big lead at half time. I don’t know what happened us in the first half, we were flat. They took full advantage. (Lorcan) Higgins and (Dan) Mulholland caused damage. Then they got the first three scores of the second half, which was really disappointing.

“Seán Duggan’s two-pointer gave us a bit of a spark. We played ourselves back into the game and brought that bit of fight we had hoped to bring earlier on. The bottom line is that they converted their chances, and we didn’t.

“I don’t know what our stats are in terms of our shot/conversion rate, but I’d say they’re low. The game is about scoring, and we didn’t score as much as them,” was Moran’s take on his side’s poor performance.

When it was put to him that the break between the Connacht final and the All-Ireland quarter-final might be a factor, Moran batted that theory to touch.

“That’s their third week on a row, so, if they lost, they could have used that as an excuse. As far as we were concerned, the lads were going really well in training. We thought they had improved to push on a good bit since the Connacht final. But Derry are probably a step above anything we played in Connacht. Ulster football is strong.

“We thought that we had a great chance coming into the game. We had a good tussle with them earlier in the year in a challenge game. But they were far superior, and good luck to them.” 

Roscommon missed a number of opportunities from frees and open play over the course of the 70 minutes. Josh Coyne, usually ultra-reliable from frees, saw his radar go on the blink from placed balls, but Moran was quick to highlight the contribution of the talented St. Brigid’s forward during the young Rossies’ successful provincial campaign.

“Josh was taking frees off the ground on a slippery surface out there. We wouldn’t have won a Connacht title without Josh Coyne. He’s 15 years old, and he’s going to have many more days in a Roscommon jersey.

“Josh will learn a great deal from today, as will all the lads. He’ll get practising more. He never leaves the pitch in Kiltoom. They didn’t go over the bar today. Other days, they do go over the bar. That’s football, that’s the way it goes,” he explained.

In essence, Moran felt that Derry’s hunger in snaffling possession around the middle third was more pronounced, and the biggest factor in their success.

“They got their hands on breaking ball around the middle of the field. It was a huge part of it, and it’s something we did so well throughout the Connacht championship. We just didn’t get to the pitch of that today. Maybe they were a little bit hungrier. After losing last weekend, they felt they had something to prove. When they got their hands on that dirty ball, they made use of it.

“We had ambitions to push on, we really did. Unfortunately, it hasn’t worked out. But it’s all about the learnings. These lads are 16 and 17-year-olds. We’ll see a lot of them in Roscommon U-20 jerseys, and hopefully senior jerseys in the future. They will have learned a great deal from this experience.

“You got to remember that it’s the third year in a row that Roscommon have played in the top tier quarter-final. Last year, we reached the semi-final. Roscommon football is in a good spot, we’ve had a great year.

“Maybe in a few weeks or months’ time, we’ll look back on winning a Connacht title. But this was a different competition, and we wanted to do well on it. No more so than the seniors, we wanted to push on in this competition. We’re just disappointed that we didn’t do that,” he concluded.