Roscommon bid to maintain success story in Thurles
By Kevin Egan
With three Connacht titles secured across the three grades of intercounty football, Roscommon’s lordship over the sport in the western province is beyond dispute right now. Tonight (Wednesday), their quest to expand their empire and strike fear in the hearts of the rest of the country gets underway in Thurles, with the not-insignificant matter of an All-Ireland U-20 semi-final against Kerry.
Three years ago, at minor level, Ulster was where it was at. Derry edged out Monaghan on penalties in the Ulster final and the two sides met again in the All-Ireland decider, with Derry winning by seven points.
Tyrone – who themselves lost on penalties to Monaghan in the Ulster semi-final – shocked Derry in this year’s campaign and they will take on Kildare tonight, with the firm expectation that their bid to become the first team to win three All-Ireland titles in a row since Cork (1984-1986) will continue.
On paper, Kerry should be the side most likely to usurp the Red Hand men. Tomás Ó Sé oversees a Kingdom side that is decent in defence, equipped with one strong fielder (Evan Boyle) and one good all-round player (Danny Kirby) at midfield, but spectacularly talented up front.
Máirtín McKivergan would be expected to be the man to pull the strings from centre-forward, though he is not listed to start tonight - see team lists here.
There has been plenty of furore about the fixing of this game for midweek at a time when so many players have college exams and getting to Semple Stadium on time will be tricky for supporters, but that switch was to enable Kerry full forward Tomás Kennedy to take part.
Kennedy scored three points in the Munster U-20 final and two in last Sunday’s senior decider, while either side of him, team captain Paddy Lane and Gearóid White man the corners, making up a full-forward line covering three Tralee clubs, Austin Stacks, John Mitchels and Kerins O’Rahillys. A tally of 3-7 from play between the trio in the Munster final says it all about the challenge facing Roscommon here.
In general, Roscommon have done well when it comes to shutting down star attackers. Kobe McDonald was superb in the Connacht final, at least until he ran out of energy three days after playing for the seniors, but Michael Gillooly has looked superb throughout the season while Nikita Berzins has become an abrasive, physical presence with no backward step taken in the same sector. Clann na nGael’s Diarmuid O’Higgins is in his first year out of minor and is relatively inexperienced by comparison, but will still have a huge task ahead of him in this game, presumably up against White.
If there is a line where Roscommon have a distinct advantage, it’s at half-back. Keelan Kelly was handed the unenviable task of taking on McDonald in the Connacht final, though Eoghan Carthy often switches into centre-back and that option may be explored by manager Cian Smith if he wants to try and get the Kerry centre-forward to spend more time thinking about his defensive responsibilities.
Niall Heneghan is reportedly dealing with a couple of niggles since the Connacht final but Smith will hope that he’s fit to line out and take on Boyle, while further up the pitch and on the opposite 45, there will be a similar debate about which Roscommon player picks up the centre-forward berth, up against Aodhna Ó Beaglaoich, brother of Kerry senior star Brian.
John McGuinness has been at his best so far when driving through from that centre-forward position, most notably when he landed his crucial first half goal in the Connacht semi-final against a Galway team that was very much in the ascendancy before that score, but in what is a small Roscommon forward line (according to the median, if not the average height), McGuinness could end up chasing shadows on a kickout battle, assuming Kerry try to isolate the Roscommon Gaels player against the bigger Ó Beaglaoich.
The need to distinguish between mean and median isn’t just as an exercise for anyone thinking about Junior Cert maths next month. The Roscommon forward line, in the shape of players like John Curran, McGuinness, Dean Casey and Eoin Collins, isn’t big. However that all changes around the 40 minute mark (usually) when the bat signal goes up and Ruairí Kilcline is called into the fray.
Kilcline’s gargantuan frame opens up a world of options, and Kerry will have noted the devastation he can cause after being sprung off the bench in big games. That potential mismatch, and indeed Roscommon’s proven track record in their last two games of finding a way to dig the best out of themselves just when the pressure is greatest, is the main source of optimism for Ros' fans.
There are other reasons why a more tempered view of how things might unfold would be warranted, while the sheer momentum that Roscommon teams are taking from supporters at the moment can’t be discounted either. Expect the Connacht champions to dominate the central areas of the two stands in Thurles, to see if they can’t help this tidal wave of historic Roscommon wins to keep going.
They’ve a lot to do to stay alive, but that’s been the motto of this cohort for some time now, and it’s got them this far.