Burke to take stock before deciding on future plans
“I can’t fault the lads, I thought they were super in the second half. I thought our midfield took over, but just that conversion, 56 or 57 per cent, that won’t get it done in the end. I think Cork were 65%. The effort was unbelievable, but we just fell short,” Roscommon manager Davy Burke said after last Saturday's narrow defeat to Cork.
“I thought we controlled the first 23 minutes and then a good few turnovers, Cork went in four points up with the aid of the breeze, and I didn’t think we had as strong of a breeze in the second half. But towards the end of the first half, mistakes cost us three or four points.
“Look, we’re all disappointed, there’ll be no-one more disappointed than the lads in there and the management team. I can’t fault the effort today, what more as manager do you want from a group of 30-odd lads? They stuck in, and the Roscommon people were class today, the noise (they made). I felt the lads were giving it to them, just one or two (scores) that we left out there.”
Burke’s summary of the season as a whole saw him pivot back to a key rule change that took away one key facet of their play through January and February.
“One win in the last eight, and that was against London, it’s not good enough,” he admitted.
“Since the first of March (win over Cork in Páirc Uí Chaoimh), the FRC changed the rules and the 12 v 11, we were quite good at it! But look, we had to adapt like everyone else, we might have adapted slower or we didn’t adapt as well as other teams, and you take that on the chin and you move on.”
“To sum up the year, promotion was the first thing and we got that done. The league final was disappointing, I thought we were good for a while, but a trend in a lot of games was that we were good for 40 or 50 minutes and we didn’t see them out for one reason or another. And we’ve probably limped out - when I say, limped out, I mean in terms of bottom of the group with one point, but the attitude and the performance was unbelievable, but in general it’s disappointing to finish bottom.”
So 2026 will be a redemption year for Roscommon – but for Burke?
“There’ll be no big headline here now, or no big announcement,” he smiled.
“If you look at the team, look over the three years, this might be lost with people. Conor Hand, Daire Cregg, Conor Carroll, Ben O’Carroll, Keith Doyle, Ruaidhrí Fallon, Dylan Ruane, Shane Cunnane, Robbie Dolan, Declan Kenny, Senan Lambe, I could keep going all day.
“Over that three years we’ve brought through a new Roscommon team to complement the Smiths and the Murtaghs, the Dalys etc. So essentially I’d be very proud of that work to date that’s been done. I hope that doesn’t get lost in the coverage here, because essentially we’ve blooded a brand new Roscommon team who will be competitive.
“We all need a break, take a week or two off, get a holiday, they’ll get back to the clubs and we’ll get back to our families maybe, and make a decision then,” he added.