Sunday, February 7

Allianz Football League Division I**

Kerry v Roscommon, Fitzgerald Stadium, 2pm - Live on TG4

Last Sunday in Kiltoom, Roscommon got a brutal lesson in the realities of Division I football.

The Connacht side were heading for what would have been a hugely morale-boosting win in their opener against Monaghan, leading as the game entered injury-time. However, Monaghan, just that little bit further down the road than Roscommon, hit 1-2 in injury-time, their goal coming from two-time All Star Conor McManus, to snatch victory.

Roscommon lost 2-10 to 1-9 in the end, and while the nature of the last-gasp defeat was hard to take, Roscommon joint-manager Kevin McStay pointed out afterwards that his side had made many errors that cost them over the course of the game, not just in injury time.

“We put a good bit into it. As you saw, we got close. We tried to hold out for as long as we could but we made an error that cost us," said the Mayo native. “It wasn’t down to that one mistake, there were others as well. We had 31 turnovers – that’s an awful lot. It’s a horrendous number really but conditions were poor. Still, a lot of them were unforced.”

If last week was about the pain of Division I football, Roscommon fans will be hoping this weekend is a bit more about the glamour. A trip to Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney to face Kerry, while daunting, is exactly the reason why Division I is "the place to be", as Roscommon players and management have said repeatedly in the build-up to the league.

Roscommon fans will feel they have plenty of old scores to settle with Kerry - not least from the 1980 All-Ireland final, a defeat that still rankles for Roscommon folk - and while a league game in early February is hardly the place to exact meaningful revenge, victory for Roscommon would be quite a big deal for them.

If ever there was an ideal time for a Roscommon team to face Kerry in their own back yard, this is it. An understrength Kingdom were very disappointing in their defeat to Dublin at Croke Park last Saturday night, never really getting into the game in a low-energy display which the All-Ireland champions exploited ruthlessly.

Éamonn Fitzmaurice pulled no punches in his post-match press conference either, hinting that he felt let down by the lack of hunger shown by his players.

“We were well beaten,” he said. “We played well in the first 15 minutes before half-time. But in the second-half Dublin took over. We’re lucky we don’t have a minus 10 or 12 points difference going down the road. It was a tough night and we didn’t really see it coming. I felt there would have been more bite to the lads tonight.”

Kerry's absentee list for this weekend still says a lot about why they are struggling. It includes James O'Donoghue, Colm Cooper, Marc Ó Sé, Peter Crowley, Paul Geaney, Michael Geaney, Anthony Maher, Kieran Donaghy and possibly Aidan O'Mahony this weekend, although the Rathmore man may return to the squad ahead of the game in Killarney.

Roscommon are more or less at full strength, and while the defeat to Monaghan was disappointing, there were plenty of positives to take from Kiltoom, not least the performances of Ciaráin Murtagh and Fintan Cregg, too more names to add to an already impressive list of talented Roscommon forwards.

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