Roscommon minor footballers begin Connacht campaign on Saturday

ROSCOMMON minor footballers begin their Electric Ireland Connacht MFC quest this coming weekend when they face Leitrim in the preliminary round on Saturday at Pairc Seán, Carrick-on Shannon (5pm). The winners of Saturday's game will then face Galway in the semi-finals the following weekend (Saturday, June 30), with Mayo and Sligo meeting in the other semi-final. However, manager Gareth Carroll is not focusing too far ahead in this year's championship, and said he simply wants his players to enjoy the experience of representing their county at a high level. The Kilmore native said: "We have a fine group of lads who have great attitudes, and I've been very impressed by them since we got together. We're dealing with a panel of 30 players, and every player has shown great commitment and desire since we started training. Collectively, we have a strong group, and it's very important to have that strength and togetherness in the panel. "I put a lot of emphasis on the lads enjoying their football, and on looking forward to occasions like this. It's unfortunate the Connacht championship is only kicking-off now... the other provincial championships are well underway at this stage, so it's not ideal. "The GAA is a marvellous organisation but perhaps a little more thought could've been put into this. I mean, we've a few players sitting their Leaving Cert two days before this game, so it's not very helpful for the lads to have a game looking over their shoulders. It's the same situation for Leitrim, for Galway, for Mayo, and for Sligo, so we have to get on with it, and hopefully the lads can put in a good display on Saturday." Carroll, who is assisted by selectors Jonathan Conroy and Barry Greaney (both Boyle) and Kilglass' Gerard Nugent, is loathe to place much expectation on his young charges shoulders, despite Roscommon doing impressively at underage level over recent years. This Roscommon team also recently won the Connacht Minor Football League title, but Carroll is not getting carried away. "These are very young lads and the most important aspect for them, at the moment, is to enjoy playing the game," Carroll said. The Roscommon team on Saturday could contain at least a handful of South Roscommon-based players including Clann na nGael's Stephen Flynn (younger brother of All-Ireland minor-winning captain David), Ultan Harney, Ruaidhri McManus and Dara Pettit, as well as St Brigid's Niall McInerney.