We should appreciate that Roscommon has a great senior football championship
Gerry Ward and Jerry Nerney alongside Shane, Ryan, Orlagh and Tom Cunniffe at Sunday afternoon's senior football championship quarter-final between Boyle and Pádraig Pearses in Enfield. Picture: Bernie O'Farrell
‘Championship football is good — sometimes very good — but where it becomes great is at the knockout stages.
When there’s that bit more at stake — when everything is on the line — there’s more meaning to it. This was evident across the county over the weekend as eight became four in our three main adult championships.
My focus was primarily on the senior end of things in County Roscommon last weekend. Luckily enough, I managed to pick the best two games to go to. I was at St Croan’s GAA grounds in Enfield for Pearses and Boyle and then onto Oran’s home in Rockfield for Faithleach’s against Glaveys.
There was great football on show at both venues.
Before a ball was kicked in anger, I think there’d have been a general consensus that the best teams were stacked together in two of the quarter-finals — St. Brigid’s and the Gaels, and Pearses and Boyle.
It was no surprise that Brigid’s won, though there was something ominous about the ease at which they disposed of Roscommon Gaels.
Ominous for everyone except Pádraig Pearses.
Pearses love to see Brigid’s going so well. The stage looks like it is clearing to give them a chance to ambush the Kiltoom side once again. Brigid’s will surely see them coming this time though.
Pearses versus Boyle was a really good game of ball. Enfield, like Rockfield later in the day on Sunday, was a terrific venue. We’re blessed with a number of superb playing surfaces in the county with excellent facilities around them. They are ideal spots to host these big games as they generate a much greater atmosphere than is possible in the wide expanse of the Hyde.
I had seen both Pearses and Boyle in their previous games and figured they would be fairly evenly matched. That proved to be the case in a pulsating encounter.
The fact Paul Whelan was one of the top contenders for Man of the Match illustrates how unlucky Boyle were in some ways. Whelan made a few super saves to deny them. I think the pick of them was early on in the second half when he denied Cathal Feely finishing off a sharp Boyle move, which started with a trademark dummy by Donie Smith. A goal at that stage would have pushed Boyle six ahead.
I felt that should have built more of a lead. They had the aid of the strong breeze in that first half and should have been aiming for a five or six-point cushion. As it was, it took a late surge for them to end the half three ahead. Not enough, but nearly. Nearly, because of a brilliant performance by them for most of the second half.
Regardless of those saves by Whelan, Boyle still managed to get into a seven-point lead with five minutes of normal time left. Niall O’Donnell was probably their best player throughout. Enda Smith was good too, as was David Flanagan, particularly in that second half. They got an awful lot right on the day, which will probably make the fact that they couldn’t get over the line all the more painful.
The breeze was a big factor, and when we journeyed from Enfield to Rockfield an hour or so later, unsurprisingly, the same conditions prevailed.
In Enfield, it was Paul Carey grabbing the game by the scruff of the neck with a couple of massive two-pointers. In Rockfield, Faithleach’s proved themselves to be the best shooters of the weekend with a superb display of kicking with the breeze in the second half, which included six doubles.
For an example of a massive momentum swing, let’s look at an incident six minutes into extra-time in Enfield. Enda Smith made a great run through the heart of the Pearses defence to create a goal for Luke McGrath, only for it to be called back for overcarrying.
It seemed harsh at the time but, looking back at it, referee Shane Curley made the correct call. Both he and then Ian Monaghan in the later game on Sunday were sticklers for overcarrying — they refereed it very well to be fair to them. Homing in on this infraction is a welcome development.
Anyway, back to that disallowed Boyle goal. It would have put them a point up. Instead, Pearses galloped down the field and Conor Ryan hit a massive double which pushed them into a four-point lead. They won the next kickout, worked it to Hubert Darcy who stroked over another double off the outside of the left.
Pearses were now six up and it was game over.
I know Boyle rallied again, which is to their immense credit, but the mountain at that stage was too steep, especially as they looked to be out on their feet in a number of areas.
Pearses march on. I know I said the manner of Brigid’s win over Roscommon Gaels was ominous, but it’s also ominous how the reigning champions are purring along, winning two tight games after extra time. They know how to win.
A few months ago, the feeling was that they wouldn’t have enough to retain their title. The word was that they were missing three of the Dalys and with Niall Carty retired, that was just too many top players to be replaced.
But here we are at the business-end of the championship and they’re still winning. Ronan Daly is back playing and having a big influence. He tracked Enda Smith for the 80 minutes on Sunday.
His brother Niall finally got back on the pitch towards the end of normal time after his own injury troubles this year. What a boost that was to Pearses at that stage of the contest and also now with a semi-final looming. So, along with Lorcan, who played at wing-forward, that’s three Daly brothers back playing.
The fourth one, Conor is abroad and won’t be available. So, you could say it's he and Niall Carty that Pearses are down from last year’s team which went so close to winning Connacht.
They are big gaps to fill, but the improvement in the likes of Conor Lohan and Caelim Keogh is minimising that. Seán Canning, too, has pushed on and turned into a big player for them, particularly in terms of winning breaking ball.
They’ll go into the semi-final as strong favourites against St Faithleach’s, who’d only love to upset the apple cart. They’ve beaten Pearses already this championship, so why not?
They can take a lot of confidence from the manner of their win over Glaveys. Many of their scores were from the top drawer. Starting with Connell Kennelly’s first-half goal, they showed a real killer instinct when they got within range.
It certainly wasn’t all one-way traffic though. Glaveys, at various times, looked like they could get the upper hand, but they never made it count enough on the scoreboard.
They went in at half time one point up, having played with the breeze, so they were up against it. They goaled through a penalty in the second half, but probably needed another green flag to claw their way to victory. They broke through the Faithleach’s defence a few times alright, but just couldn’t find the finishing touch.
Before the game, I was looking forward to the performance of Darragh Heneghan. He’s a lad who I think could have a lot to offer at intercounty level. He did well here, but it was his midfield partner, Niall Heneghan, who impressed me most.
He caught a good few clean kickouts and was always willing to drive forward, mostly using the ball well. He’s young — he was on the county U-20 team this year — and I look forward to seeing how he progresses.
Glavey’s have a great age profile — there are plenty of good young footballers there, and you’d imagine their graph remains on an upward trend.
But it’s Faithleach’s who progress, and they’ll relish the status of underdogs in a game against a team they’ve already beaten this year. Similar weather conditions would be ideal for Faithleach’s. If there’s a decent breeze and two-pointers are to play a big role in the game, they’ll have a good shot at causing an upset.
Darren Nerney, as usual, was a rock for them at centre-back. Once they break even around the middle you know they’ll have a chance with the Murtaghs and the likes of David Rooney and Connell Kennelly kicking brilliant scores.
As expected, Clann got the job done against Elphin. Just as Faithleach’s will be relishing their underdog status, you’d have to imagine the same will apply to Clann na nGael as they prepare to face Brigid’s.
They haven’t set the world alight yet, but isn’t it great to have reached the semi-final without hitting top gear? Perhaps, they might be a massive performance in them.
