Connacht SF Championship final 2010

Could Roscommon put Sligo to the sword like Louth almost did to Meath?

I think that Sligo are going to underestimate their opponents and the game will be very tight. Even thought Sligo have been impressive, they were unlucky against Galway in the first game and lucky in the replay. But then you have to question how good both Mayo and Galway actually are.

Sligo at a canter here I'm afraid ....

Actually its hard to imagine a Connacht final wthout the big two ... but I am sure they will give it socks in the qualifiers... no wait!

its the first Connaught Final in 63 years thathas not had either of Connaught's big two in it! that can only be seen as a good thing for connaught football.

I do believe that SLigo are going to win this on handy enough. they knocked out Mayo and Galway in the one season for the first time ever (i think) and will be riding high. there is nothing to underestimate about Roscommon as they are just plain no good!

and GAA-fan, unfortunately Mayo and not so unfortunately Galway were both absolute tripe this year! Galway showed it by almost losing to NY and then losing to Wexford at home (no disrespect to Wexford) and Mayo proved it by losing to a team that had only beaten London and Kilkenny this year. Im sure SLigo people wont care how good/bad Mayo & Galway were this year though, they still beat both

In the course of my days work which can take a sort of a ramble, I found myself this afternoon in the wastelands of North Roscommon, in the Ballyfarnon/Keadue electoral area, where I encountered a well known Roscommon Co.Board official who shall be nameless. He's a bloke I would have great respect for and naturally we got round to Sunday.
His praise and admiration for Sligo and their achievements this year were boundless, but underneath, I could hear the sharpening stone moving smoothly along both sides of the scythe, as he calmly assured me that the Sheepstealers were in good shape, well motivated, bulling for it and would empty the tank in McHale Park....

I toddled off, with a sense that the Rossies have had enough slagging and wondering what kind of price they were to win it..

Boxtyeater wrote:where I encountered a well known Roscommon Co.Board official who shall be nameless. He's a bloke I would have great respect for............I toddled off, with a sense that the Rossies have had enough slagging and wondering what kind of price they were to win it..

Excommunication from Leitrim beckons methinks ...

Knew I should have went with Roscommon. Havent watched Roscommon play and that's why I never picked them in tipster

great game and some display by Shine!

Missed this game but thought Sligo had played a game too many to be able to raise it again.

Nice day for Roscommon. Tough for Sligo having knocked out the alleged big two. But they'll have more chances in the near future.

Either way, both are now cooked. Out of their depth outside Connacht.

that display today sealed the deal,shine is my favourite young player in the country,ive seen him 5 times this year and never disappoints.worth the entry fee every time ive seen him live.

Roscommon did deserve to win. At the risk of a backlash, I think Sligo were a bit complacent.
My one tiny gripe would be just as the game entered injury time (at least 2 minutes was indicated) one of the Roscommon players picked up an injury, play was stopped for over 1 minute, the ref only added on 18 seconds extra to the 2 minutes. Anywho, it was a good enough game - some would say football won
When the history books are written this year, Roscommon's name will be on the Nestor Cup and even though they beat Galway and Mayo - Sligo have no silverware.
Unfortunately I cannot see either team going much further this year. Down will have too much for a disappointed Sligo and if a stronger back-line marks Shine out of the game, its hard to know where the scores will come from (much like Dublin and B Brogan)

seen the second half in Clones yesterday but have only seen the highlights of the first half so far but have the game taped and intend watching it tonight, it looked a fairly entertaining game of football with some great long range scores from both sides - Costello and Shine in particular were quite impressive, Shine showed a lot of bottle with those frees near the end which weren't straightforward by any stretch of the imagination.

The Rossies have come a long way in 12 months from their 20 point hammering by the chokers from Mayo to being Connaught champions, fair play to them and well done to their manager Ferghal O' Donnell who stuck at it and can now add a provincial title to the All Ireland Minor title he won a few years ago.

As for Sligo i cant understand why the didn't deploy O' Hara in front of the full back line like they had done before and very successfully too, cant help but think a little complacency had set in.

Didn't get to see the game, so can't really comment on the ins and outs.
But based on what I've heard from home the "big head" syndrome resurfaced in the Sligo team, and it took them the best part of 40 minutes to realise that Roscommon weren't just there to make up the numbers.

For a few years now attitude has been a major weakness in the Sligo team, we have no problem raising the game and work-rate for the "bigger" counties, but against opposition from our own level the players constantly have shown that they think they are better than they are. It had appeared that Kevin Walsh had cured this ailment, but obviously not.

Hopefully things can be recovered in time for Saturday, but I wouldn't be overly confident.


Finally, fair play to the sheep-stealers, hopefully they can produce another good performance in the quarters, and prove the critics (myself included) wrong again.

bocerty wrote:
As for Sligo i cant understand why the didn't deploy O' Hara in front of the full back line like they had done before and very successfully too, cant help but think a little complacency had set in.

Hardly necessary as it was only Roscommon FFS. Walshe obviously thought Roscommon would fall asunder after 40 or 50 minutes and they would reel them in. As Fergal O'Donnell said after the game "Any team that can get over Leitrim has to have the bottle for it" and in this summation at least, he was proved to be correct.
The Co.Board official referred to previously had the facts straight. Hats off to the Sheepstealers I suppose......