Inside Track with John McIntyre

IN a Connacht context, nearly all the hype has been about Mayo and Galway footballers in 2023, but those great party poopers Roscommon have done it again by sending the new Division One League champions packing in their own backyard at a rain-lashed MacHale Park in the provincial quarter-final on Sunday.

The Rossies had understandably taken some umbrage over the widespread perception that the destination of the JJ Nestor Cup this year lay between Connacht’s big-two after they contested the top-flight league decider at Croke Park the previous weekend. After all, Roscommon had finished third in the table and had been extremely competitive in all their matches.

Under new manager Davy Burke, they have become more defensively secure as evidenced by only conceding ten points to an admittedly profligate Mayo outfit. And nursing grievances over being the ‘forgotten team’, they were highly charged to deliver a timely statement. With Enda Smith and Diarmuid Murtagh both in flying form, they were deserving winners.

Some might be inclined to think that Mayo walked into an ambush just seven days after beating Galway, but there is no substance to that theory. Sure, it might have been difficult to refocus on the championship so soon, but Kevin McStay was already talking about the threat posed by Roscommon in the immediate wake of their league triumph.

Mayo knew what was coming but their failure to exploit the strong wind in the opening-half came back to haunt them. They didn’t score from play for 25 minutes and it was left to defender Paddy Durcan to show his forwards the way. Roscommon were well organised and will now relish the prospect of getting stuck into Galway in the Hyde on Sunday week.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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