Roscommon’s disappointing League campaign ended with heavy loss to Derry which ultimately, saw them relegated to Division Two.
Davy Burke’s side needed a win in Celtic Park to have a chance of remaining in the top tier but having been in with a chance, with the scores tied at 1-8 apiece after 42 minutes, their challenge then fell asunder.
The Rossies were subsequently outscored by 1-11 to 0-1 in the last 30 minutes of the game as Lachlan Murray and co. ran Roscommon ragged.
The Roscommon manager was none-the-less keen to take the positives from his side’s performance, telling RTÉ’s Darren Frehill that Sunday’s showing was their ‘best 50 minute performance of the year.’
“Probably ran out of steam a small bit which is no surprise to us considering some of the games out there probably hadn’t a huge amount of football played,” the Kildare man continued.
“So huge positives up to that point. The score-line is not good but we’ll start from there.
“Derry are probably in year five of a project. We’re coming along, doing our best as well to get there but we’ve lads who have missed two years of football there, trying to get them back in,” he added.
Tyrone legend Sean Cavanagh had a different take on it on The Sunday Game, describing Burke as ‘the most positive man in Europe,’ and saying that he wouldn’t hold out too much hope that the team will turn it around in the summer.
“I don’t think so.
“They were third last year and we were talking them up and waiting for them to kick on.
“They have been a bit of a yo-yo team from Division One to Two – they’re back to Two now – that’s not the be-all and end-all.
“Sometimes you can re-group. We’ve seen Mayo, Armagh and Donegal do it. Dublin and Derry did it last year.
“It’s not the be-all and end-all but for me they look a bit rigid and systematic,” Cavanagh continued.
“I know Davy famously came out with the stats on training and what not and I think back to the quarter final last year where they held the ball for two to three minutes, lost it, Cork went up and got a score and ultimately put them out of the championship.
“For me, watching them there today, they look a bit lethargic,” he added.
“The fact they conceded 2-18 from play on Sunday tells me…Roscommon are usually biting, diving blocks, hitting, harrying…fouling, stopping play – they’ve just gone a little bit soft, a little bit systematic and a little bit over-coached possibly.
“I think they need vigour and freshness back in their squad. They’ve a chance to do that in a months time, with Mayo coming down to the Hyde.”
Roscommon picked up three points from seven National League games as they were relegated to Division Two for the first time since 2022. They will host Mayo/New York in the semi-final of the Connacht championship on Sunday April 21.
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