Impossible to ignore Boyle’s rising tide

A new trophy, and possibly a new era to go with it?

Predictions of that nature have fallen flat in the past, but rarely has the lie of the land looked so open going into the Roscommon LGFA Senior Championship, which gets underway this weekend.

While the competition is once again sponsored by Dermot Hughes Cars, this will be the first year that the prize for the winners will be the Marie McAleer (née Holland) Cup.

For the past two decades, every renewal of this championship has started with no more than two clear frontrunners — often just the one — and one or two darkhorses.

We’ve seen St. Brigid’s, then Kilbride, and then Clann na nGael enjoy long periods of supremacy, with Strokestown pouncing to pick up two titles in between the St. Brigid’s and Kilbride eras.

Kilglass Gaels (2009) and Boyle (2023) have also reached the top of the tree, but, in general, this has been a competition where champions tend not to relinquish their grasp on power too easily.

Reigning champions Clann na nGael come into this season with three championships in the last four years. But out of the seven clubs lining up at the starting tape next Sunday, a strong case can be made for at least three of the seven, while a couple more are also entitled to believe that they can put themselves in the hunt.

Nonetheless, until they are dethroned, Clann na nGael are the team to beat, even if their league form would suggest that they have a lot of work to do to find their best form.

The return of their county contingent will be a huge boost, particularly Caoimhe Lennon who wasn’t part of last year’s club run, and that injection of talent will be further enhanced when Orla McManus completes her graduated return from injury over the coming weeks.

The other side of the argument would say that their 2024 success saw them time their run perfectly, fuelled in no small part by what was a perfectly understandable reaction of being “written off” after their heavy defeat in Kiltoom in the round robin stages. The same sense of having a point to prove might not be in place this year, thus leaving them vulnerable to being picked off by a hungrier opponent.

When it comes to having something to prove, that mantle now firmly rests on the shoulders of St. Brigid’s. Losing any county final leaves scars, but taking a seven-point lead into the dressing room in Ballyleague last year before losing the second half by 4-10 to 0-2 is the type of turnaround that was practically unheard of until this year’s All-Ireland hurling final.

But Cork didn’t have the excuse of having ten starting players aged 20 or under, and after starting the league with a narrow defeat to Boyle back in March, the spring form of the Kiltoom club reads well.

Niall Mackey from Moate takes charge this year and he still has a very talented young group of players at his disposal, with ample room for improvement individually and collectively.

Right now however, it’s impossible to ignore the rising tide in Boyle. They won the league with Saoirse Wynne, Ruth Cox, Megan McKeon and Caoimhe Cregg listed as water carriers on the day, and that’s quite the quartet to be redeployed from hydration to competition.

For one reason or another, the Boyle team that lined out in 2024 was a shadow of the side that picked up a first-ever Roscommon SFC title the previous autumn, and all the indications are that this year they’ll be a lot closer to their best in 2025.

Firmly in the “wild card” category on their first year playing at this level go St. Ciarán’s, who will take inspiration from how competitive the last few intermediate winners have been once they stepped up into the top tier.

Balancing football and camogie commitments is never easy in that part of the county but this year’s structure, which guarantees knockout football for all teams, should play into their hands more than a long group campaign.

Ciara Dowd’s consistent scoring ability and Laura Mannion’s capacity to dominate games will give them a chance in any contest, as more than most, their league form can be written off as an unfair reflection of their ability, given the number of intercounty camógs and footballers who were unavailable to manager Jonathan Conroy.

No less intriguing are St. Dominic’s, who look like they might have the scope to make a breakthrough. Niamh Watson was one of the most improved players in the Roscommon team this year with Áine O’Meara and Aimee O’Connor also set to come back in from a season of county football. That’s in a club that is expected to be right in the mix for the county U-19 title, all backing up two elite scorers in O’Connor and Aoife Gavin. There’s ground to make up, but plenty of raw material to work with all the same.

Whether the ceiling for Éire Óg or Shannon Gaels goes as high as reaching a county final is another matter. Both clubs have their fair share of team leaders that can carry the fight to opponents, but strength-in-depth is invariably an issue for smaller clubs like these.

A shorter championship campaign will make injuries less likely and should allow the two clubs to concentrate their focus on being ready for knockout action in mid-September, while Éire Óg will certainly take heart from adding a Division Two League title to the Division Three Cup they picked up a year ago. They’ll each make peace with being outsiders for now, and look to get their ducks in a row over the next month.

Shannon Gaels are on a bye week this Sunday with Éire Óg playing host to the county champions Clann na nGael. It’s a much shorter road trip for St. Dominic’s just down the road in Kiltoom against St. Brigid’s in the other game in Group One, while St. Ciarán’s credentials will be fully tested at home to Boyle in the solitary game in Group Two.

All games throw in at 11 a.m. this Sunday, with group games taking place on Sunday, August 17th and Sunday, August 24th. A three-week break will subsequently follow before the quarter-finals, when the winner of Group One will be put straight through to the last four, and the other six teams will compete to join them.