It was a third successive game without a win for Roscommon to start their 2024 Allianz League Division 1 campaign. The Rossies were feisty and kept things close for 35 minutes but Dublin flexed their muscle in the second half and won with relative ease at Croke Park on Saturday night. It finished 1-19 t0 1-12. Roscommon will wake up Sunday fully aware of the challenge in front of them as they try to stay in the League's top flight. They are bottom of the table, and the likes of Kerry, Mayo and Derry still lie in wait for Davy Burke and co.
But it's not for want of trying.
Speaking to TG4 after the game, the Roscommon manager bemoaned a number of key officiating decisions that went against his side. He also cited a lack of cohesion in terms of preparing his squad due to various commitments in club and college competitions.
'We've trained 65 times and we've had our full squad together zero times. That's a big problem we have. We can blame colleges, we can blame clubs, we can blame whoever we want. But if we want to compete at this level, them boys need to be on the pitch tomorrow morning. It's as simple as that.
#DUBvROS
'It's very very hard competing at this level when you're not getting the decisions right.' 👀
Seo smaointí Davy Burke, bainisteoir @RoscommonGAA, tar éis an chluiche i bPáirc an Chrócaigh.
BEO/LIVE AR @TG4TV 📺#AllianzLeagues #GAABEO pic.twitter.com/gjIre8yCcw— Spórt TG4 (@SportTG4) February 17, 2024
St Brigid's, of course, were defeated in the All-Ireland club final against Glen on the 21st of January, just on the eve of the 2024 League, with the likes of Daire Cregg were involved in UCD's run to the Sigerson final last Wednesday.
Roscommon battling to stay in Division One
It's an interesting admission from the Kildare man. Intercounty training official began on 24 November. Some quick maths tell us that's roughly 85 days ago. Factoring in the Christmas break and Roscommon's run to the FBD League final, that's a lot of training sessions to squeeze into the young season.
This is obviously the level of the commitment required of a county looking to make it at the elite level. Clearly, Burke has buy-in from his squad on the back of keeping Division 1 status last season, and some big Championship results like a win over Mayo in Castlebar and a draw with the eventual All-Ireland champions at Croke Park.
That said, Burke's quotes reminded us of an interview from Vikki Wall during the week where she spoke of the big difference between the professional set-up with the Sevens team and her days with Meath.
Still in touch with one of the girls from the Meath panel, she’s not home until half 11 most evenings that they’re training and she could be gone all day Saturday and Sunday with games, so for me it’s probably the most off time I’ve had in terms of actually having that balance.
Of course, most casual GAA fans won't really understand the extent of the commitment of playing intercounty.
Next up for Roscommon is a visit from Monaghan to Dr Hyde Park next weekend. The game is effectively a relegation playoff. With Roscommon on one point and Monaghan on two, there is clearly no margin for error.
