Hodson Bay Hotel Group SFC final: Padraig Pearses v Roscommon Gaels on Sunday at Dr Hyde Park at 2 pm
After a championship of many twists and turns, it’s a repeat of the 2019 decider on Sunday as Roscommon Gaels and Padraig Pearses meet to decide the destination of the Fahey Cup for the winter months. It promises to be a fascinating duel and one can make a good case for both sides.
Pearses have been the more consistent side thus far in 2024. They were in control against Clann na nGael in the group stage before conceding 1-2 late on to lose. But they haven’t looked back since. They accounted for St Dominic’s and Boyle without too much fuss to comfortably qualify for the last eight.
It’s well known that the Pearses players wanted to draw St Brigid’s in the quarter-final. The champions of 2019 and 2021 felt they had the panel to cope with, and defeat the Roscommon and Connacht champions, and so it proved. Then in the semi-final they encountered little resistance from an off-colour St Faithleach’s.
Padraig Pearses are seldom spectacular, but they are the ultimate championship team. They are very difficult to play against and to beat. They have a fantastic blend of talented young players and experienced competitors who have answered every question since that loss to Clann. They never give the opposition any space and are experts at snuffing out danger in all areas of the field.
The household names like Niall Daly, Conor Daly, Ronan Daly, Davy Murray, Niall Carty, Paul Whelan, Emmett Kelly and Paul Carey are all still there. However there has been an influx of excellent young players over the past couple of years like Declan Kenny, Caelim Keogh, Conor Lohan, Adam McGreal, Eoin Colleran and Jack Tumulty. They are a formidable force for sure.
Roscommon Gaels go into the game looking to win their first title in 20 years. It is hard to believe that the town team have not won the title since 2004. They have had many near-misses since (including 2019) and this year they have recruited the considerable talents and experience of Mark Dowd as team manager. The affable Strokestown man has a superb CV, and the club are hoping that he can provide the final missing ingredient as they desperately seek a final victory.
The Gaels’ form this year has been inconsistent. They did well in the league only to capitulate to St Brigid’s in the final. In the championship, a good win against Castlerea was followed by a poor enough display against Oran in very poor conditions. Another very good win, this time against Tulsk, was followed by a comfortable victory over Boyle, however it should have been more comfortable as they allowed Cian Smith’s team back into the game in the second half.
The semi-final against Michael Glaveys was a rollercoaster. The Gaels showed great resilience to come back from four points down to send the game into extra-time and they recovered again to win by four in the end. That is a game that the town team probably would not have won in years gone by.
However their defence looked very vulnerable in that match. They conceded three goals – and it could have been six. That will not suffice next Sunday. Pearses will have taken note.
There is also a good mix of talented older and younger players on this Gaels panel. Mark Healy, John McManus, Scottie Oates, James Fetherstone, Cathal Dineen and Cian Connolly have been at the coalface for the Gaels for many years.
Meanwhile, the arrival into the team of the likes of James Connolly, Mark Purcell, John McGuinness, Eoghan Carthy, Senan Lambe and Tim Lambe has given a great vitality to the Gaels this year. There is also a possibility that the talented Rory Carthy may be fit to play. Another talented youngster, Ethan O’Reilly, is still out with a long-term injury.
The clash of Mark Purcell and Mark Healy with Niall Daly and Conor Lohan at midfield could be crucial. The Gaels attack will need a supply of ball and that’s where the likes of Peter Gillooly and Cian Connolly could prove so important for their prospects. You can expect the Pearses defence to pay special attention to those two on Sunday.
Down the other end of the field Paul Carey is back to his very best for Pearses and he is the ‘go to’ man for them. Eoin Colleran has also been very impressive from play and the placed ball and the Gaels defence will surely have to tighten up to meet that challenge.
The Gaels have endured so many near-misses in recent years they will maintain that their luck must surely change soon. Their win against Pearses in the quarter-final in 2022 is a sign that they are well able to meet the challenge that they will face on Sunday.
But one cannot ignore the championship experience and ringcraft on the big day that Pearses have accumulated over the last five or six years. The Gaels will have to play out of their skins to tip the balance in their favour on Sunday. That is always a possibility, and few neutrals would begrudge them a first title in 20 years, but it looks like it’s Pearses’ to lose. I give them a hesitant nod.
Prediction: Padraig Pearses.
Flashback to when sides met in 2019 final
Roscommon Gaels and Padraig Pearses met for the only time in a senior final on Sunday, 13th of October 2019. On that occasion Pearses made history, winning their first ever senior football title on a scoreline of 2-10 to 1-10.
Having failed to win in eight previous finals, Pearses scored two vital goals in the first half when Hubert Darcy and Conor Payne were on target. Pearses led by 2-7 to 0-6 at half-time and by the midway point of the second half they led by 2-9 to 0-6.
But despite being down to 13 men after Bryan O’Gara and Cian Connolly were red-carded, the Gaels staged a dramatic late recovery and a goal from Richard Hughes saw them back in it as the lead was reduced to just three points.
There were nine minutes of injury-time played. Despite the Gaels pushing Pearses back late in the game, they could not find an equalising goal, and Pearses had won their first ever title. Many of the players who played five years ago will line up again on Sunday next.
Padraig Pearses: Paul Whelan; Shane Carty, Mark Richardson, David Murray; Anthony Butler, Ronan Daly, Gavin Downey; Niall Daly, Conor Daly (0-2); Lorcan Daly (0-1), Niall Carty, Paul Carey (0-2); Emmet Kelly (0-3, 1 free), Hubert Darcy (1-1, 1 free), Conor Payne (1-1). Subs used: Tom Butler for Kelly (47), Alan Duffy for Carey (49), Sean Ryan for Payne (63), Sean Fahy for Downey (66), Niall Finneran for L Daly (67).
Roscommon Gaels: James Fetherstone; Tim Lambe (0-1), John McManus, Mike McNeill; Kevin O’Gara, Richard Hughes (1-0), Paul Gleeson; Mark Healy, Kieran Kilcline; Scott Oates, David O’Gara, Brian Kelly; Ronan Carolan (0-2, 1 free), Cian Connolly (0-5, 4 frees), Peter Gillooly (0-1). Subs used: Mark Nally for Gillooly (39), Bryan O’Gara for Healy (42), Ronan Gleeson for McNeill (44), Cathal Dineen for Kelly (49), James O’Gara for K O’Gara (62), Richard Walsh for Kilcline (66).
Referee: Marty Parker.
Pearses’ powerhouse Daly ready for Sunday’s test
To say that Niall Daly is the heartbeat of the Padraig Pearses team would be an understatement. The 33-year-old school teacher has been an influential county and club player for well over a decade, and in 2025 he has cemented (if that was needed) his position as the leader of the Pearses pack as they chase a third title in five years.
Recent evidence of his influence was seen this year when Niall came on late in the quarter-final against St Brigid’s, at a stage when his side were three points down. He was clearly injured but eight minutes later they had drawn the match and the history books will show that Pearses won in extra-time. His part in that win was a measure of his importance to his club.
Now the team captain, Niall is enjoying his football as much as he ever did and although his (ankle) injury is still causing him bother, he is looking forward to another county senior final on Sunday. He says that he always felt that Pearses would have a good chance in the championship this year.
“At the start of the year we felt that we had a good team. We were aware of how good St Brigid’s had done the previous year, but we were confident that we could give the championship a good go this year with the players we have”.
When Pearses drew St Brigid’s in the quarter-final, was it the draw that they wanted? “Yeah it was exciting to be involved in that match. The TG4 cameras were there too but the bottom line is that we were confident that we could win it if we played to our best”.
After his hugely influential late contribution against St Brigid’s, Daly played a full game against St Faithleach’s in the semi-final. So how’s that injury now?
“It’s not too bad. I was getting injections but they wear off after a while so I have been working hard on it. I am icing it twice a day at the moment and doing rehab work but I am hopeful that I will be okay for the final. I was with a surgeon and he told me that surgery was probably the last resort so we are working on it all the time”.
Pearses have a raft of young players on the panel this year and Niall agrees that has been a major factor in their good form.
“The competition for places on the team is massive now. You have lads like Emmett Kelly and Mark Richardson on the bench now. Two years ago Mark was playing for Roscommon seniors. The young lads have really stepped up this year and they are as a good as any other young players in the county”.
He says that Pearses have been looking at their own performances this year rather than concentrating on the opposition.
“We have been looking at our own displays rather than anyone else’s. We look at some of the performance indicators and stats and stuff like that. So we haven’t been really looking at the opposition too much”.
So despite having a lot of miles on the clock, does Niall enjoy it as much as ever? “Oh definitely, the number of good young players coming through is keeping us all fresh and motivated. I didn’t start against Brigids and my brother Lorcan didn’t start against Faithleach’s. The competition for places is fantastic and it’s keeping guys like me on my toes”.
So how does he view Roscommon Gaels as opponents given that there is a rivalry between them over the years and the fact that Pearses defeated the Gaels to win their first ever title in 2019.
“This will be a cracking match. They (the Gaels) were put to the pin of their collars against Glaveys and that will bring them on for sure. We might have won in 2019 but remember that we lost to them in 2022 (quarter-final) so we know that there won’t be much in it. Lads like Scottie Oates and myself have played against each other all the way up along and there is never much between us and that’s the way it will be on Sunday.
“We felt that we didn’t play that well against St Faithleach’s in the semi-final and we have to work on a lot of stuff from that game. But Sunday is a new day. Looking back to 2019 there are a lot of new players playing this year since then so it’s a new day and of course we will be hoping to come out on top” he concluded.
‘We have the self-belief now’
Emmett Kelly is one of the most experienced players on the Padraig Pearses panel. He has played a major part in the club’s rise to the top of Roscommon club football, their first senior title in 2019 and also Connacht Championship success in 2021.
This year Emmett has been making his mark off the bench which is a sign of the strength of the panel available to the club in 2024.
Emmett says that Pearses and Roscommon Gaels have had very different routes into Sunday’s final.
“We got the group of death at the start there. We had a bit of bad luck the first evening against Clann, but we knew that wasn’t terminal for our chances. We got back on the horse after that and we met Brigid’s in the quarter-final. I think it was well documented that we wanted to get Brigid’s. We knew we were going well and you always want to play against the best. We got over that match and that opened up the whole championship. The four underdogs won that weekend. Everyone left in it felt they had a chance and Roscommon Gaels are going very well too, much the same as ourselves.
“They have a lot of experienced players but they have a lot of good young players too. They have been in three or four minor finals in recent years. So confidence is high with them as well”.
Pearses have been at or near the top of Roscommon club football for many years, but it wasn’t until 2019 that they finally won a senior title, following that up with another title success in 2021. So is the mindset different in the club now as they prepare for this Sunday’s county final?
“Oh definitely, to get that monkey off our backs was huge in 2019. It gave us the confidence to go on. We didn’t win in 2020 but we had the confidence to win it again in 2021 and go even further. The difference now is that we have the belief that we can do it. When a game is tight we can do the things we need to do to get over the line. The fear of not getting over the line is a tough thing to overcome but that’s gone now thankfully”.
The influx of young players on to the Pearses panel has been key.
“We have been in the last three U-20 finals. That has given us a great lift. A lot of those players were with us in 2021 but they probably were not playing. But they have come on so much last year and this year and now they are such a big part of our team”.
Canny Canning closing in on big prize
Having been with the Padraig Pearses backroom team in 2023 as a selector, Frank Canning has stepped into the manager’s job in 2024. Frank, a member of the famous Portumna Canning hurling dynasty, recruited retired Laois legend Ross Munnelly as a selector this year. They join Pearses men Niall Finneran and Cathal Óg O’Sullivan in the engine room as they try to plot another title win. Frank’s son Sean is also a Pearses player and he has come on as a sub in a number of games this year and indeed has done very well.
Padraig Pearses v St. Faithleachs
Pearses manager Frank Canning. Photo: Bernie Farrell
Canning says that his experience last year has taught him that there is a very talented and dedicated panel of players at the club. It has enabled him to get to know the players better, to observe how they adopt to different systems and so on.
The manager says that winning the Fahey Cup has been the aim since the start of the championship. “We wanted to win the county final from the start of the year. Every club in Roscommon including Pearses thinks that they can win the county title and that also goes for St Brigid’s, Clann, St Faithleach’s, Roscommon Gaels and the rest. Their ambition has to be to win the county title and we are no different”.
Was being drawn against St Brigid’s the incentive Pearses wanted in order to really kick-start their season?
“We felt we played well in the group. We conceded 1-2 against Clann in the last couple of minutes, a free that shouldn’t have been a free and a goal that we should not have let in. But fair play to them, they got the two points.
“We were happy enough the way we played against St Dominic’s and Boyle. We were not getting carried away or anything, but we were going in the right direction. But our players wanted to draw Brigid’s and we did and they were happy about that”.
Canning’s sporting background over the years has been mainly in hurling. So to what extent is managing football at this level different?
“The actual management of players is not that different to be honest. Good management to me is to have a good backroom team. We have good kit men, we have Colin Donohue as our Strength & Conditioning man and we have Niall Finneran and Cathal Óg O’Sullivan who are two great club men here. Then we have Ross Munnelly as coach. He only came in July but Niall and Cathal Óg had done huge work before that. The key thing is the people you surround yourself with. I’m just the figurehead”.
The manager makes an interesting observation on the differences in coaching hurling and football.
“One difference I find is that in football the best team on the day does not always win the game whereas in hurling the best team always wins. In hurling if you are on top you can score from 60 and 70 metres out and there is no mass defence. In football you have to get to the D to score and a bad team can hold you up. That can be very frustrating sometimes”.
He says that as long as all the players buy in to the shared vision there will be no problems with man management. “We haven’t picked the same team all year so far and we are not certain what the starting team will be for Sunday. The lads have been brilliant. We brought on six subs against St Brigid’s and we brought on five against St Faithleach’s. We have 35 on the panel and they are all great lads”.
Pearses had to pull out all the stops against St Brigid’s while it was relatively easy for them against St Faithleach’s, so what is their manager expecting against Roscommon Gaels?
“They will go into the match hoping to win it the same as ourselves. It’s a 50-50 game and the top six inches – the mental approach – is key, and hopefully we will be ready mentally”.
Finally, the Pearses manager says that young players maturing has made a big difference to the team in 2024.
“Last year we had a very young team. If I had one regret about last year it is that we didn’t give the younger lads more of a chance. We stuck with some of the older lads that maybe didn’t deserve it. This year we have had seven players starting that are aged 21 or younger, and we have a few more (who are) 22, 23 and 24. In our panel of 35 we have 16 who are under 23 and ten of them have played senior championship. But Roscommon Gaels are in the same boat. They have a lot of experience but they have great young lads as well. So we are very similar in a lot of respects.
“We have a lot of experience too with the Dalys, Davy Murray, Niall Carty, Emmett Kelly and others, but it is our young lads that are driving them on and not the team management” he concluded.
Healy hails role of young players
Mark Healy Photo: Bernie Farrell
Mark Healy is one of the lynchpins of the Roscommon Gaels team over the past decade or so. A very talented performer who has played at all levels for Roscommon, he forms a formidable midfield partnership with Mark Purcell.
So what were Roscommon Gaels’ expectations at the start of the year?
“Every year we have pretty high expectations as a group. We have a good mix of youth and experience and we always have ambitions to win the Fahey Cup, to be honest. That is the aim every year” Mark said, adding that the team is now “a step closer”.
Roscommon Gaels’ form has been inconsistent this year with some great performances mixed in with some less than inspiring displays. Mark says despite that there is a great resilience in the team. “It has been a long season. We did well in the league, got to a league final. We had a disappointing result there against Brigid’s in the final because we have been quietly confident in how we have been progressing.
“I know we had a bit of a roadblock against Oran in that game but in fairness we were down to 14 men for 40 minutes, so I think we showed great resilience that day as well. Against Michael Glaveys, we started well but made it difficult for ourselves and Glaveys made it very difficult for us as well. We showed a bit of character and courage to dig it out”.
Roscommon Gaels have been so near and yet so far from winning the Fahey Cup in recent decades, with several near-misses, including the finals in 2017 and 2019.
Mark Healy notes that there have been eight semi-finals since his first experience of one – in 2017 – and that the Gaels have qualified for seven of those.
“It shows that we have a pretty strong team there. It is a testament to the competition there with the likes of Brigid’s, Pearses and Clann. It is extremely strong, and we have lost out at times. Now I think what is helping us these last couple of years is the lads coming through. There were a handful of lads on the (county) minor team, and I think there were eight or nine on the U-20 team that were really driving us on”.
There have been a number of managers involved with the Gaels over the years. So what has Mark Dowd brought to the club this year?
“Every manager brings something different. Dowdy is great and all the backroom team, I have to say they have been fantastic. Mark is extremely diligent. He has everything covered and has us extremely well drilled. I think he is an exceptional man-manager. If someone needs a kick up the backside, he can do that pretty quickly and if someone needs a hand around the shoulder, he is pretty good at that too. He has a really strong CV over the last 10, 12, 14 years so we have all been really impressed with him and he has had us well set up and well drilled for every team we have been playing so I have to give him kudos for that”.
Of opponents Padraig Pearses, he says: “Pearses have been a great team and they went on a great run a couple of years ago, coming out of Connacht and into the All-Ireland series. We have had a lot of battles down throughout the years and it is fair to say they have come out on top in more of them than we have, there has never been more than a couple of scores in those games. In 2019, there was a goal between us.
“They are a really good team and really well set up, well drilled. They have some really good athletes and some really good younger players coming through which is always making it trickier for us older guys to keep up with them! Credit where it’s due, they are a very good side. Between them and Brigid’s the past couple of years they have been raising the standard of Roscommon football”.
So what about the hype in the run-up to the final? Mark says the players try to avoid the hype, as it can be a distraction, while adding “it is great to see the town buying into it and all the colour that is about”.
He continues: “The club is a really good place to be at the moment between the juniors going well, the minors, the U-20s and the ladies teams as well… so that is testament to Gareth (Carroll) and the lads on the committee and the management team. They are setting the club up well and putting the foundations in place. It is not just about our team but it is about the town as well. Everyone is buying into it”.
Mark says that there is a calmness and quiet confidence in the Gaels squad.
“What I put it down to is the young guys just coming in and bring a nice freshness to it. They just come out and play their own game. The last couple of games we have played, it has been the most calm set-up going into games. It has been to the point where I have been questioning myself as to are we being complacent or too laid-back! I think it is just a self-confidence from going well and a belief in the team that is really coming from those younger lads, which is great” he concluded.
James hoping Gaels can achieve their goal
James Fetherstone is one of the more experienced players on the Roscommon Gaels team and the net-minder will have the task of keeping the Pearses attack at bay next Sunday.
When he spoke to the local media last weekend he began by reflecting on his side’s thrilling win over Michael Glaveys in the recent semi-final.
“There was a bit of relief after the weekend to finally get over the line. We were in and out of that game a lot because we were in control at the start and then they got a goal, and they kept us under pressure there for a while. The goals put us back, but we managed to draw level and then get ourselves over the line”.
So what’s different about the Gaels this year?
“I think the (strength of) squad we have this year is a big thing. Anyone can come off the bench while in other years you might have been guaranteed that a certain lad might be coming on. This year now it could be any five or six off the bench, so I think the strength in depth has helped us. It is just having lads out on the pitch as well because numbers at training are up and we can have 15-a-side games if we want to. That brings everyone on and there is great competition for spots. Everyone has to row in together. The squad depth is a real bonus. I don’t think anything drastic has changed. A lot of the group have been together the past few years but this year it seems to have worked for us”.
Roscommon Gaels have been at or near the top of the tree over the past six or seven years without getting over the line. James has been reflecting on that.
“This is my third final now. We have been there or thereabouts. We have been in semi-finals the past few years and it is hard to be coming up short but you can’t think too much about it. We will go into this with belief that it is there for us. We will just treat it like any other game to be honest. The final in 2019 (against Pearses) is one that could have gone either way, there was nothing in it. A kick of the ball”.
Is playing in a county final different to other games? “There is a lot more build-up to it and the week leading up to it is busier than any other week. But the day itself will be the same for us. There might be one or two extra bits on the day but we just treat it as a normal day. It takes a few minutes to settle in because they will be nervous and we will be nervous too, so lads will just want to get on the ball. The first 10 minutes could be slow or they could be hectic. It is quite unpredictable. Both teams will be trying to feel each other out”.
James agrees that both Pearses and the Gaels are much the same in terms of the combination of younger and older players.
“We have a lot of players that have played in those finals. We haven’t really lost that many (players) but we have gained a good few so I think our panel is getting stronger. Numbers are bigger at training and we have the juniors in a semi-final so there is a good standard around the club.
“Pearses are the same because they will have that core bunch that they will know and they are bringing in new lads every year too. That is the way it has to go because you can’t rely on the 15 that played last year and produce the same results so you have to be bringing in new lads all the time”.
Dowd was attracted by Gaels’ air of ambition
Mark Dowd came to Roscommon Gaels this year with an impressive CV. The Strokestown man was involved with Fergal O’Donnell’s backroom team with the Roscommon minors in 2006. He managed Ballaghaderreen to win the Mayo county senior title for only the third time in their history in 2012. He was involved as a selector with Anthony Cunningham’s Roscommon senior set-up. He managed Roscommon U-21s to win the Connacht title in 2015 and spent a few years with the Strokestown senior team as they won the county senior title in 2022.
Dowd says he was familiar with the Roscommon Gaels players prior to his appointment as manager earlier in the year. “I was well aware that we had a good blend of youth and experience within the squad and I knew that the players were ambitious and wanted to build on what they had done up to now. They feel that they can go a step or two further than they have gone so far and for me. It was just getting the buy-in from the players and once we had that we knew that we could challenge at the business end of the championship. The effort from the players has been fantastic. I can’t fault them at all in that regard”.
He agrees that the form of his team has been up and down this year. “I have felt that we played well in patches in every game this year but I don’t think we have put a good 60 minutes together yet. Please God that will come on Sunday. It’s just about getting that consistency and hopefully that will come against Pearses.
“When I was talking to the Gaels about this job all I wanted was for the players to be ambitious and that they knew where they wanted to go at the end of the year and (that) it wasn’t just a box-ticking exercise. I got a good vibe here in this club from the start. There is a good committee there and what they are doing bodes well for the future. There is an ambitious committee, an ambitious club and ambitious players too, so it all adds up. For me personally I only live out the road so there is very little travelling and that helps as well especially when you have a young family”.
So what does Mark feel he has to do to turn the Gaels from a ‘nearly’ team into winners? “From the start what I needed was a dedicated panel, we had to devise a way of playing, and get our defensive set-up right. We had to get our fitness levels up and do what was needed in terms of strength and conditioning. When we had all that in place we were able to see where we were going. Players returned from county duty and injuries cleared up, so that is all positive. But in terms of near-misses for the Gaels you saw there in the match against Glaveys the last day the position the team were in (four points down very late in the game)… they might not have come through that in the past. We have been building a bit of mentality work with the lads and you know we really needed a game like that and it will stand to us going forward”.
It has been 20 years since Roscommon Gaels last won the Fahey Cup and a number of the older players have suffered many narrow defeats in finals and semi-finals. Is he happy the hunger is there to finally get over the line?
“There is definitely a hunger there. The players know that they are not far away. Small little changes here and there, a little more belief and that improved quality of the players that are there will make the difference. We haven’t lost too many players. Brian Kelly and Richard Hughes are away but we have everyone else which is great”.
Finally, the blend of younger and older players is key according to the Gaels manager.
“We have the two Marks (Purcell and Healy) at midfield, younger and older helping each other, and there is a great camaraderie between all the players and it is great to see and it is so important when you come down to the last five minutes in these championship games. We are going to need that big time against Pearses on Sunday”.
