Rossies are one of country’s ‘form teams’ says Malachy O’Rourke

By Barry O’Donnell

TYRONE manager Malachy O’Rourke has warned that in Roscommon on Sunday his side are coming up against one of the ‘form teams in the country’.

The ‘Hyde’ will no doubt be hopping this weekend in this opening round match of the revamped (yet again) All-Ireland Senior Championship series as Mark Dowd’s newly crowned Connacht kingpins welcome the Red Hands out west. The Rossies staged a stunning late revival in their provincial decider with Galway a fortnight ago, surging back from six points down in the closing 10 minutes to clinch the Nestor Cup amid wild scenes of delirium on their home turf.

O’Rourke was watching on from the stands as Roscommon halted the Tribesmen’s bid for five Connacht titles on the bounce and he admits that he wasn’t overly shocked at the outcome.

“They have been really consistent, one of the form teams in the country. Not just in the Championship but also in the National League they had a couple of top class performances. In the Mayo semi-final they really took off in the second half.

“It was always going to be a big test for them in the Connacht Final against an experienced team like Galway. I was down at it and they came through with flying colours.

“Playing against the wind in the first half they got the two goals which were very important and then when Galway came back at them in the second half they showed that bit of character and resilience to keep going. In the end they got their just rewards.

“They are a very pacey and very mobile team. They have a lot of scoring threats and obviously have a lot of momentum behind them too in terms of support. I’m sure there will be another big crowd there to cheer them on next Sunday. It’s going to be a very difficult task for us there is no doubt about that.”

O’Rourke feels that the Rossies boast a nice blend of youth and experience right now and adds that they are now gaining due reward for sterling underage development work which has been undertaken over the past number of years.

“Obviously they have more experienced lads who have been around for a number of years, the likes of Enda Smith, Diarmuid Murtagh, Daire Cregg, but then you have younger ones like Darragh Heneghan who was really exciting.

“He impressed as did Colm Neary in the forward line as well. They just have a lot of pace and athleticism across the field. They work very hard for each other and play as a team. That makes them very hard to play against.

“In the last few years they have been very strong at minor and U20 level. They swept the three Connacht titles this season for the first time ever so clearly they are doing something right at development level.

“They are getting those structures in place at underage level, with good work behind the scenes and that is now feeding through to establish a strong senior squad.

“As a county they are clearly on a high at the minute. Mark Dowd has got the senior team going really well. There is a momentum behind them and a feel good factor built up with all that success. They have certainly proven their worth.”

Tyrone were greatly outnumbered in the stands and terraces at the Athletic Grounds when losing that epic Ulster preliminary round contest with Armagh after extra-time just under six weeks ago, and while O’Rourke knows the Rossies will again have the advantage in terms of crowd backing this Sunday, he hopes that a good number of supporters make the journey out west for what appears a formidable test for his charges.

“A bit like Armagh they seem to have got their support well mobilised. There was over 20,000 at the Connacht Final and the Roscommon support outnumbered the Galway support. So it will be a fierce atmosphere again for us to go into and no doubt they will have the backing of most of the people there. It will make it that bit more difficult but that is the challenge in front of us.

“The last day even though we were outnumbered in Armagh I thought our support was really good in getting behind the boys. That’s really important and again we will appreciate any supporters who travel down to Roscommon to back us next Sunday. The boys would comment themselves that it does make a difference.

“So it would be great to mobilise that support and we know Tyrone fans will get behind their team if they see them fighting for every ball and fighting for the jersey.”