Younger players could make all the difference

Former Roscommon footballer Paul Earley is no stranger to a big Connacht final day in Dr. Hyde Park. Of course, it was the former All-Star who was presented the Nestor Cup when he led Roscommon to a two-point victory over this weekend’s opponents in 1990.

Much like the rest of the county, Earley is “excited” ahead of Sunday’s game, casting his mind back to famous days the Hyde has played host to.

“I know for the supporters and everybody else, the fact that the team that won in 2001 will be honoured is great to see. That was a brilliant day, I remember being in the stand, there was great excitement in the last couple of minutes when Gerry Lohan kicked the winning goal,” he recalled.

However, the Michael Glaveys clubman pointed out that the home factor and the jubilee celebrations won’t be high on the agenda of Mark Dowd this week.

“It’s an occasion, definitely, but I think the management will dampen that down a little bit — it’s about the performance of the team itself. Their focus is obviously solely on preparation for this match. As Mark Dowd said, if they prepare the same way as they prepared for the Mayo game, we’ll be in for a cracker.” 

Roscommon’s performance two weeks ago in Castlebar stood out to Earley, particularly the cohesion of the team.

“They played as a really strong unit and it was clear they had complete trust in the gameplan. They executed it to the letter of the law in the second half.

“I'm just very impressed with their energy and their fitness level along with the hunger, desire, their ability to take on their men up front as well and go forward every time they had the opportunity. It was a really positive performance,” he summarised.

Following on from that impressive performance, Earley outlined that hitting those same levels will be crucial in capturing a first Nestor Cup since 2019.

“That has been an issue with Roscommon teams over the last 10 or 15 years, when they've put in a really big performance and blown a team away. They haven't been able to repeat that type of performance, whether it's in Hyde Park or somewhere else.”

However, the former Connacht championship-winning captain had faith in Mark Dowd’s new-look Roscommon team in bucking that trend.

“I think with this team, I expect that they will put in a very big performance the next day. It's a new management, and by and large a new team. Obviously, there are a lot of young lads in the squad and that can often make the difference.

“Young players who come into a unit who have no fear, they’ve had success at an underage level, so they're not worried about history or losses in the Hyde,” he said.

Much like Roscommon, Galway have blooded new players in the league following the absences of Paul Conroy, Shane Walsh and Damien Comer at different stages. Consequently, Earley acknowledged that it will be a high-quality Galway team looking for a five-in-a-row.

Galway’s physical presence in the middle third will be the key area to manage, in Earley’s eyes.

“It is the biggest challenge and it is the most important one to win, because I think if we're able to get parity or win midfield, we have the forward unit to be able to do the damage as we saw against Mayo.”

He added that Roscommon will have some high-profile players returning for injury to bolster players such as Enda Smith and Diarmuid Murtagh’s in such fine form, broadening Dowd’s scope for tactical tweaks that need to be made for this weekend’s opponents.

Earley stated that if Roscommon could match their performance level from Castlebar, Galway will have “to be at their very best” to beat them.

“We have to factor in that the two lads (Smith and Murtagh) are key forwards. They'll receive plenty of attention, so it’s up to the other lads to shine on the big day, and I think if they do that, we have a great chance of winning,” he concluded.