Electric Ireland Connacht Minor Football Championship Semi-Final: Roscommon v Galway on Friday at 7.30 pm at The Connacht Centre of Excellence at Bekan
It’s a case of ‘third time lucky’ for minor (U-17) footballers and hurlers around the country as their championships are finally going ahead over the next few weeks.
In Connacht, all games in the MFC are being played at the Connacht Centre of Excellence, and after last weekend’s defeat of Leitrim (2-17 to 0-12) it is Galway who Roscommon will meet in the semi-final on Friday night.
Roscommon manager Emmett Durney told People Sport on Monday that after a few false starts, the panel of players are delighted to get the chance to play championship football this year.
“We are looking forward to the match and will go into the clash with Galway with no fear at all. We had a lot of work done earlier in the year, and since the championship got the go-ahead, we have had seven training sessions up to this week. Although we didn’t have a chance to play any competitive matches, we had a couple of A v B games.
“Unfortunately we have lost Mark Watson due to injury, and Ian Harney is out long-term. They are big losses, but we will have to get on with it”.
The Clann na nGael man says that the fact that Galway have a championship game under their belts is a big advantage to them this weekend.
“From our point of view, it was good to be able to see Galway play; we know what they are like now. They were taken all the way by Leitrim, but it is always better to have had a game played, and momentum is very important.
“We are looking forward to the match. We beat Galway last year in the championship, so a lot of our lads will not fear them. It’s knockout football, so we will be giving it our best shot and see where that takes us”, he concluded.
Last weekend at the water break in the second half, Galway were just three points ahead of Leitrim (1-11 to 0-11) before they pulled away to win easily in the last ten minutes. Roscommon will be going into this match as underdogs and that’s always a good place to be in in a knockout championship game.
Hopefully there will be an early Christmas present for Roscommon GAA on Friday night. Underage football can be notoriously unpredictable at the best of times, but it would be a surprise were Roscommon to win.
