A little bit out of the blue, there came along quite a fascinating sporting weekend in Roscommon…
The notable achievements, and the drama, came thick and fast. St Coman’s handballer Fiona Tully won gold and silver at the World Championships.
It was sensational stuff from Tully, who won gold in the Senior Open doubles alongside Kilkenny’s Ciara Mahon, and silver in the singles, where she was denied gold by Martina McMahon (Limerick).
Then along came young golfing star Olivia Costello, adding another great chapter to her ongoing success story. The Roscommon Golf Club star was a member of the Great Britain and Ireland team that won the Junior Vagliano Cup in West Lancashire, defeating the Rest of Europe, with Costello contributing a very significant one and a half points in her team’s 8-7 win.
On the GAA fields, there was drama too. On Saturday, Roscommon Masters continued their very impressive run in the top tier this season, Anthony Carroll’s team producing an excellent performance to defeat favourites Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final.
Following their 1-5 to 0-7 win over the Kingdom in Clare, Roscommon now advance to the All-Ireland final and the formidable challenge of taking on four-in-a-row chasing Tyrone. The Ulster side will obviously be favourites, but Roscommon have put a great run together this season and have everything to play for in the final, which will be played on Saturday, September 14th (venue to be confirmed).
Perhaps the greatest sporting drama of last weekend (with a Roscommon dimension) came on Sunday in Creggs, where Athleague senior hurlers pulled off a great escape against Oran, thus leapfrogging their opponents to advance to the county semi-finals.
Oran led by two points entering time added on, but Athleague struck with two last-gasp goals, Niall Connolly’s long-range free finding the net before Aengus Lyons completed the comeback in the fourth minute of injury-time.
The other Roscommon SHC quarter-final played that same day was in Ballyforan, and this too was very noteworthy, as Roscommon Gaels built on their growing momentum in this code by defying tradition and securing a fully deserved semi-final spot.
The Gaels defeated Tremane by 1-19 to 3-9, proof for any remaining doubters that manager Ronan O’Meara is overseeing a peaceful revolution!
GAA intercounty managerial merry-go-round
The other big theme of the sporting weekend was the latest twists in the ongoing GAA managerial merry-go-round.
I wasn’t surprised that the brief Colm O’Rourke era in Meath came to an end. I feel a little sorry for the great chieftain, a true legend of the game. It was an incredibly strange appointment in the first place, sentiment over logic I would respectfully suggest.
Yes, I am taking the view that veteran stars like the hugely respected O’Rourke are almost certainly not best equipped to manage in the modern game. Maybe I’m wrong, but the evidence is strong. There was a real naivety about some of Meath’s approach under O’Rourke, admirable as his commitment to old-style open football was. In truth, he was doomed!
Brian Dooher and Feargal Logan leaving Tyrone was no great shock either. As it turns out, Roscommon had a role in their downfall. Tyrone’s championship exit this year, a tame one at the hands (and feet) of Davy Burke’s team, was arguably the final straw after a couple of poor seasons for the ‘Red Hand’. Of course their unlikely All-Ireland success in 2021 means the outgoing joint managers have their place in folklore.
More locally, there has been lots of activity on the management front. Most observers were surprised at the appointment of Shane Curran as Carlow senior manager. The former Castlerea, St Brigid’s and Roscommon star is one of the most passionate figures in the game. It’s an exciting appointment for him; we wish Shane well.
Ballaghaderreen man Mike Solan, a former All-Ireland U-21 winning manager with Mayo, is to become the new manager of the Longford senior team. And of course the great Mickey Harte has joined Offaly, in a joint manager role with incumbent Declan Kelly.
Meanwhile, Noel Dunning has stepped down as manager of Roscommon U-20s. He oversaw a great Connacht final win earlier this year before Roscommon were defeated in the All-Ireland semi-final by Tyrone. Noel’s shoes/boots won’t be easily filled.
This follows James Duignan’s recent announcement that he does not wish to be reconsidered for the position of manager of the Roscommon U-17 team, a role he had for the last three years.
Like Noel Dunning, James Duignan made a significant, positive contribution. Roscommon football will benefit both now and in the coming years from their development of some of our brightest young prospects.
Sven will be missed
Like millions of football fans all over the world, I was saddened to hear of the death of former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, which was confirmed by his family on Monday.
A charismatic, thoughtful man, he had major coaching success at club level, winning a total of 18 trophies with various teams in his native Sweden, Portugal and Italy. That remarkable haul includes a couple of European trophies.
In his high profile tenure as England manager, Eriksson brought the team to the quarter-finals of three major tournaments.
When Sven was appointed as England’s first overseas manager in 2001, we all sat up and took notice. It all seemed quite exotic… and it was.
The tributes to Sven from former players, fellow managers, pundits and fans have been extremely warm and heartfelt. He was a much-loved figure in the game, and will be fondly remembered.
‘Your fans are proper fans’ – joys of lower leagues
The odd browse through fans’ forums/comments sections on websites in the English soccer world can be interesting and entertaining (and admittedly often pointless/frustrating too!).
Last Saturday, Barrow FC defeated Port Vale 4-0 in League Two of the Football League (yes, the old Fourth Division).
I liked this post from a Port Vale fan, the tone of which captures why I love English football’s working class culture (mostly still only perceptible at lower level these days) and the passion of the grassroots supporters.
‘Other than the result and our second half performance can I just say it’s a joy to travel to Barrow. Your ground’s how I remember grounds to be ‘when I were a lad’. Your fans are proper fans like our own, travel all over the place to watch their team with very little reward. And you’ve got the cheapest Wetherspoons I’ve ever been in! All the very best for the rest of the season. You deserve it’.
