Galway side to present difficult task for Roscommon minors

ROSCOMMON minors laid down a fairly impressive marker with their demolition of Leitrim in last weekend's Connacht MFC preliminary round (4-15 to 2-3) at Carrick-on-Shannon, but the challenge facing Gareth Carroll's promising young charges in this Saturday's semi-final clash against Galway would appear entirely different. Winners of the All-Ireland at this level back in 2006, Roscommon know they'll face a far more competitive fixture this weekend, when they travel to Tuam Stadium (5.30pm) to face last year's beaten All-Ireland semi-finalists and the provincial winners from 2007. Manager Gareth Carroll, of Kilmore, said: "We were very happy to get 19 scores against Leitrim. It was a fair tally regardless of who we were playing. In fairness, our forwards have been doing that type of thing all year. Young lads need to enjoy playing football, and enjoy coming to training, and the win will add to their confidence and their ability to enjoy it that bit more. Galway are a very different proposition to Leitrim and have a massive pick. "They possibly should've reached an All-Ireland final last year (they lost to eventual runners-up Dublin in the semi-finals), but our players are looking forward to the test. These type of occasions are what young lads get involved in playing sport for, and I've no doubt they'll receive great support from Roscommon people on Saturday. The prize for the winner is big, so hopefully we can get the right result." Roscommon expect to have a clean bill of health for the game, and will hope their obvious scoring prowess continues against the Tribesmen. Between them, Keivn Finn (Strokestown), Diarmuid Murtagh (St Faithleach's) and Enda Smith (Boyle) helped themselves to 4-8 last weekend, while Clann na nGael's Ultan Harney and Ruaidhri McManus, as well as Conor Daly (Padraig Pearses), also chipped in with scores. Other South Roscommon players who could play a part this weekend include Stephen Flynn and Dara Pettit (Clann na nGael), and Niall McInerney (St Brigid's), all of whom were used substitutes against Leitrim. The winners of Saturday's semi-final will face Mayo in the Connacht decider, after they defeated Sligo 1-6 to 0-6 in last weekend's semi-final.