After long wait, Roscommon minors ready for All Ireland semi final challenge

It's been over six months of a wait, but Roscommon's 2020 minor footballers will line out in an All-Ireland semi-final on Sunday.

Managed by Clann na nGael's Emmet Durney, the Roscommon side will face Kerry in the LIT Gaelic Grounds with a 2.30pm throw in, having won the Connacht final way back on St Stephen's Day.

Since then, the squad faced lockdowns and the uncertainty of whether the 2020 campaign would be concluded, before getting to go-ahead to get back to on-pitch training in May. And then there was a further delay in fixing the game due to the Leaving Cert examinations.

Durney said the uncertainty was the most difficult element of the last six months, although he always believed the game would go ahead.

“I always had the idea that they were going to play it,” he said, citing the GAA's history of seeing competitions out to their conclusion.

“It's great for the players to get a chance to play it,” he said.

“It'll be a big challenge. Kerry are a good side. No bad side has come out of Kerry at minor level.”

Durney and his coaching team and players trained via Zoom for four months across January to March.

The gap since the provincial success means any momentum gathered by sides through the provincial campaigns has long dissipated.

“It's a new competition really,” Emmet says.

The unique circumstances has also had an impact on playing personnel, he said, pointing out that over the six months some players have not progressed, whilst others have now nudged themselves into the reckoning.

A committed panel of 36 players was maintained by Roscommon, which allowed in-house challenge games.

Durney admits the game, for an All-Ireland semi-final, is coming a little under the radar, not least because it involves last year's minors, whilst this year's batch will be wearing the Roscommon colours later this month.

“I have people asking me 'Did ye ever get to play that game?',” he said, adding that it had also been lost a little in the glut of inter-county matches since the GAA season resumed.

Durney though is hoping this low-key approach to the game will pay dividends for this talented side.

“We'd be sort of tipping away in the background, keeping a low profile,” he said.

The squad is backboned by a large South Roscommon contingent including six representatives from St Brigid's, five from Clann na nGael and four from Padraig Pearses.

St Brigid's: Conor Hand, Micheal Sugrue, Daniel Meeley, Ronan Doyle, Daniel Keenan and Bobby Nugent,

Clann na nGael: Alan Mc Manus, Ian Harney, Thomas Lennon, John Shine and Conor O'Reilly.

Padraig Pearses: Luke Walsh, Caelim Keogh, Eoin Colleran and Declan Kenny.

TOP: Roscommon captain Eoin Colleran lifts the trophy following the Electric Ireland Connacht GAA Football Minor Championship Final match between Roscommon and Sligo at Connacht Centre of Excellence in Bekan, Mayo on St Stephen's Day. Photo: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile