Rossies revel in Connacht Final win for the ages

By Kevin Egan

All around Dr. Hyde Park, it was mayhem. Just under 23,000 people packed into the home of Roscommon football for the game, and the 3-21 to 2-22 thriller they had just witnessed heightened every emotion.

Both sides had their periods of dominance but Roscommon were two in front by the final whistle, Shane Walsh’s attempted equaliser went less than a yard wide of the right hand post, and as is often the case in sport, that small margin made all the difference between euphoria and heartbreak.

Except, of course, for Roscommon manager Mark Dowd, who has made balance and composure his trademark since stepping into the role of manager of his native county.

“They've played in the All-Ireland finals, they've played semis, we're still trying to get there,” he said afterwards.

“We're still where we are. No difference if we lost today, we're still two weeks away from an All-Ireland series game against Tyrone. We just have something to show for today.”

In the strictest sense, the Connacht title is the end of that road and Roscommon would play Tyrone and Galway would play Kildare in a fortnight, regardless of the result – but this wasn’t just about winning back the Nestor Cup for the first time since 2019. The recent history of Roscommon football is littered with instances of the Rossies pulling off an upset, or producing a stunning performance when little was expected.

This was different, because a ten-point win in Castlebar left no long grass in which to hide. Their supporters queued outside the entrance from about two and a half hours before throw in because they had seen the potential of this young, explosive side, and they filed into the Hyde expecting their heroes to match or exceed that display.

“As footballers, you want to have more expectation than hope, maybe it's been hope for too long,” said captain Diarmuid Murtagh.

“If you have expectation in the county, it means you're doing something right. That's where you want to be as a player, you want your supporters to come here expecting to win, it's a great position to be in.”

Of course supporters expected to win – they’ve seen little else in the last few weeks. The county’s minors and U-20s both won nailbiting provincial finals in Tuam Stadium, and right now there is a rising tide lifting every boat in Roscommon.

“It's amazing, it's not something you can get caught up on because you end up thinking about the outcome rather than the game,” Murtagh said.

“But the energy we get from that, some of the lads have siblings involved. Enda’s older brother Cian manages the U-20s, their midfielder Niall Heneghan is a younger brother of Darragh and Cathal, minor captain Tadhg Fallon is Ruaidhrí’s brother, and loads of them are here today.

“We watched the U-20 final on a day we were training, well we went out when they went to extra time because we would have been in Kiltoom until midnight otherwise, but that's typical Roscommon, that togetherness, it's a lovely position to be in.”

Murtagh was the scoring leader in Castlebar with 1-10 and he added another 0-7 yesterday, but there was no mistaking the star of the show, and the autograph that all the kids wanted. Darragh Heneghan has now scored 3-5 in his last two games, not to mention playing a key role in the goal from his cousin Robert that kickstarted their comeback from eight points down in the first half.

“I should have finished it, I'd say, first of all!” was Darragh’s recollection of that first green flag.

“But then, thankfully, Rob has the soccer background and he has the poacher's instinct there and he tucked it away lovely.”

Heneghan’s approach to the game was highlighted on the Sunday Game with all the usual graphics and arrows by Peter Canavan and Cora Staunton, but the Michael Glaveys man gave a wonderfully simple description of his approach to football.

“There's grass in front of you, why not use it?”

Not that there was much grass to be seen right now, with jubilant supporters in yellow and blue covering the playing surface.

“The Roscommon fans have been absolutely unbelievable this year. Kerry, New York, they followed us everywhere. It's like a 16th man out there when you hear the roars and the shouting and the encouragement you get off them. It's massive,” he said.

Based on this experience and the buoyant mood in the county, it should be more of the same when Tyrone come to town on Sunday week (May 24^th).

Murtagh pointed out that the team would “turn to it [the Tyrone match] very quickly”.

“We didn't have time to think about it this week in the build up to this game because you're playing an All-Ireland contender in Galway, but I think Tyrone don't get the respect they deserve.

"They brought Armagh to extra time, and Armagh are All-Ireland contenders, so it's a huge challenge for us. But it's great to have it here, on this pitch, in front of our own fans, and we're looking forward to it.”