‘We’ve got a massive bounce off these lads’

Brian Hanley admitted that there were frustrations but, overall, it had been another good day at the office at the BOX-IT Athletic grounds.

In his eyes, an 11-point victory away from home wasn’t to be sniffed at, although there was obvious room for improvement after his side’s second-half performance against Armagh.

“I have no argument with the two red cards. I didn’t see the first one. The second one, when it’s a shoulder to the head, you’re going to walk. It’s the rest of the game that would frustrate you in terms of what was going on.

“We were very much in control in the first half. The scoreboard didn’t reflect our dominance until the last few minutes of the half. But the endeavour and commitment were there. We were utterly dominant in the first half.

“Overall, I’d be pleased. We’re giving away a lot of silly frees. From the sideline through Primrose and Blue-tinted glasses, you’d say a lot of them were harsh. But you have to be careful what you say.

“We only conceded two points from play. For the last one, everyone could hear us shouting ‘don’t tackle’ because you didn’t know what was coming next,” he explained.

Since taking over from Kevin Sammon, Hanley has been keen to accentuate the positives, highlighting that is in charge of a team that the whole county should row in behind.

“We’ve got a massive bounce off these lads. It’s thoroughly enjoyable. We only have four or five of last year’s team. We’ve very few players from outside the county, it’s all Roscommon.

“I went to the seven clubs in October, and I told them this is what we wanted. We’re getting the results.

“At half time, we made a commitment that we wouldn’t concede a goal. With ten minutes left, Keelan (Ryan) put his foot in to stop a shot going in on goal. In the first half, Conor (Morris) ran back 30 or 40 yards to flick the ball away from in front of our goalkeeper. When you have a team doing that, you try and celebrate that as much as a score at the other end.

“Overall, I thought that our backs were outstanding. The forwards get the plaudits, but it’s that unseen work that backs do that stands out for me. We didn’t give up any clearcut goal chances.

“We didn’t drive on in the second half. When you are that far ahead, maybe you tend to sit back. It’s something we’ll have to look at. But we had a down week after the Wicklow game, we picked it up this week. Now we have a good block of work to get done before the Louth game. No matter who is available, we’ll have to turn up and perform,” he pointed out.

In the overall context of the division, Roscommon are in a good place. Despite having three players suspended, Micheál Hussey and Jack Donnelly aren’t far away from action, while Hanley feels that he’s getting a tune out of his bench.

“Someone else will get a chance, and they’ll have to step up. But they will, like Jason Martin today coming on and getting a point — he wasn’t even togged with us the last day. We don’t call them subs, we call them game-changers.

“But it’s only another two points. We move on to the next game against Louth. We don’t talk about winning, we talk about getting a performance. Our ethos and work ethic in training are very good. The strength and conditioning guys are doing a brilliant job with them.

“We’re in a good spot, everything is ticking away. We want for nothing, we’re not looking for anything, we don’t need anything — everything is laid on for us. We’re in a very positive position,” he concluded.