Roscommon captain Ciaran Murtagh.
By Cian O’Connell
During the past decade the Roscommon panel has been well stocked with different sets of brothers so Sunday’s Connacht SFC decider will still be particularly special for the Murtaghs.
Three Murtaghs will be involved, Ciaran captains Roscommon, while Brian and Diarmuid hope to get a taste of the Salthill action too.
“It’s probably something we’ll look back at in years to come,” Ciaran Murtagh admits.
“But it is great to have the two boys with me and to be in a Connacht final is very special. We don’t really discuss things like that.
“When we are at home we try to stay away from the football talk - we have a lot of it. It’s great to have the two boys there and to be in a Connacht final; it is special. It’s where we wanted to be so we’re happy to be in the final.”
Being the Roscommon captain at the tender age of 23 is a significant ‘achievement’ for Murtagh. It’s something that I’d never have expected,” St Faithleachs star acknowledges.
“It’s a great achievement for me personally, but once you go out on the pitch you have to try to be a leader to get lads to follow you. It’s very easy to motivate that group of players. It’s great to be captain, but that’s just a personal thing for me.”
Roscommon’s summer adventure so far has been interesting especially the dramatic provincial semi-final triumph over Sligo.
Ciaran Murtagh netted a goal against Sligo.
“You probably won’t believe me, but it was actually calm, we were very calm,” Murtagh responds when asked how worried Roscommon were at the break.
“We knew we’d missed a lot of goal chances and Sligo had taken their chances. As a group of players we knew you can’t do that in a Championship game and get away with it.
“We were lucky enough that we went out in the second-half and Senan (Kilbride) got the early goal and that kickstarted it from there. Then fitness levels came into play in the last 10 minutes and we were able to drive on.
“We didn’t panic to be honest. The two lads came in and they were very calm as well, so that came down to the players. We went out then and just battled on for the second-half and got that early goal which was great.”
Murtagh recalls when Roscommon last triumphed out west defeating Sligo in a tense Connacht decider in 2010.
“That’s over five years ago so I was about 17,” Murtagh remembers. “I can just remember Donie (Shine) kicking the winner against Sligo. Just the scenes after the game it was just unreal.”
After the match Murtagh was part of the Roscommon pitch invasion. “I was, I was carrying Donie around. The scenes down in Castlebar that day were great. It’s great to be back in a final now. It gives us a chance. You have a 50-50 chance once you are in a final and we’ll be looking to get a performance now.”
