Roscommon GAA Discussion Thread

InchicoreDude

Thanks, I had a feeling that I remembered them in division 1 back around then alright. Connacht was strong at the time with Galway Mayo & Ros all in division at one point I think.

rossie1977

InchicoreDude wrote: »

Thanks, I had a feeling that I remembered them in division 1 back around then alright. Connacht was strong at the time with Galway Mayo & Ros all in division at one point I think.

never got the credit it deserved , never heard a single person at the time saying connacht was the strongest province despite the fact that in 2001 mayo, galway, roscommon and sligo made up the nfl semi finals, mayo had got to two A-I finals, galways had got to three, mayo were league champions, galway all-ireland champs, roscommon beating both that same year as well in the championship

even leitrim were decent back then with some super players like sheamus quinn, they knocked us out in the hyde back in 2000 and reached the connacht final that year

Strongbow10

rossie1977 wrote: »

never got the credit it deserved , never heard a single person at the time saying connacht was the strongest province despite the fact that in 2001 mayo, galway, roscommon and sligo made up the nfl semi finals

proof would be in the pudding as to how many AI titles came west in that period

rossie1977

Strongbow10 wrote: »

proof would be in the pudding as to how many AI titles came west in that period

proof is not one team winning an all-ireland, you can't call munster the strongest because kerry wins loads of all-irelands, nobody outside of cork have beaten kerry in decades, nobody is close to dublin right now in leinster

back then roscommon, mayo, galway were all very close and sligo were not far behind if they preformed on the day

mayo reached all ireland finals in 1996-97, galway knocked out mayo in first round 1998, galway should have been knocked out themselves by roscommon that year only the ref gave them a free which should never have been in injury time, again in the replay roscommon were leading by a couple of points coming towards the end and a bad mistake by roscommon goalkeeper in extra time cost them that game, galway blowing away the ulster and leinster champions after that, in 1999 sligo brought the then all ireland champions to a replay, mayo knocking them out, 2000 galway again reached the A-I final with leitrim beating roscommon and sligo beating mayo, 2001 roscommon knocked galway out first round only for galway to come back and win the whole thing

keane2097

Most competitive is not the same as strongest.

Always_Running

keane2097 wrote: »

Most competitive is not the same as strongest.

Nowadays its one of the most competitive with Sligo 07,Galway 08, Mayo 09, Roscommon 10, Mayo 11,12 winning the title and all by one or two points in those finals. Back then (1996-2002) Connacht was arguably the strongest.

keane2097

Always_Running wrote: »

Nowadays its one of the most competitive with Sligo 07,Galway 08, Mayo 09, Roscommon 10, Mayo 11,12 winning the title and all by one or two. Back then (1996-2002) Connacht was arguably the strongest.

To be honest, sadly none of them are really competitive anymore. Mayo are the pick of Connacht by at least four or five points on average, Kerry and Cork are so far ahead of the rest of Munster it's pathetic and they don't even take the gloves off when they meet each other, Dublin are miles ahead in Leinster and Donegal disposed of their only Ulster rival at a jog.

Thinking a bit harder about your original proposition Connacht was maybe the strongest back then alright. Ulster, Leinster and Connacht were all very competitive.

Always_Running

keane2097 wrote: »

To be honest, sadly none of them are really competitive anymore. Mayo are the pick of Connacht by at least four or five points on average, Kerry and Cork are so far ahead of the rest of Munster it's pathetic and they don't even take the gloves off when they meet each other, Dublin are miles ahead in Leinster and Donegal disposed of their only Ulster rival at a jog.

Thinking a bit harder about your original proposition Connacht was maybe the strongest back then alright. Ulster, Leinster and Connacht were all very competitive.

At this moment in time yes however only last year Sligo pushed Mayo all the way in the Connacht final.

keane2097

Always_Running wrote: »

At this moment in time yes however only last year Sligo pushed Mayo all the way in the Connacht final.

One off results, even if Sligo had actually beaten Mayo, wouldn't make me think Sligo were within an ass's roar of them quality-wise last year.

Always_Running

keane2097 wrote: »

One off results, even if Sligo had actually beaten Mayo, wouldn't make me think Sligo were within an ass's roar of them quality-wise last year.

Still that result still showed the competitive nature of the Connacht championship.

keane2097

Always_Running wrote: »

Still that result still showed the competitive nature of the Connacht championship.

I was saying that it didn't tbh!

InchicoreDude

rossie1977 wrote: »

galway should have been knocked out themselves by roscommon that year only the ref gave them a free which should never have been in injury time, again in the replay roscommon were leading by a couple of points coming towards the end and a bad mistake by roscommon goalkeeper in extra time cost them that game,

Crikey, that free kick decision in Tuam in 1998 must be Roscommon's JFK moment. Given the slightest opportunity, Ros people will always bring it up! Anyway. who's to say that Galway would not have scored a point from play if the ref had not blown for a free? They were on the attack at the time.

Also, you could just as easily say that it was top class play by Shay Walsh not fouling the Ros keeper and forcing him into the mistake that led to Galways goal in the replay.

Syferus

By 'mistake' you mean passing the ball directly to a free Mikey Donnellan?

All Shay Walsh's doing, definitely.

InchicoreDude

Syferus wrote: »

By 'mistake' you mean passing the ball directly to a free Mikey Donnellan?

All Shay Walsh's doing, definitely.

So Shay Walsh had nothing to do with it??? From what I remember, he went to challenge the goalie (was it Thompson?) who then dropped the ball into the path of Donnellan.
I think Walsh deserves credit for that - that was my point.

Just found it on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SombwWOejUA

I think Walsh did well to put pressure on the keeper but yeah, he should not have dropped the ball.


Then again, claiming "If only the goalie didnt drop the ball" is not a valid argument. It is an argument akin to "If only Roscommon were better than Galway". Roscommon were not better than Galway on that day for the simple fact that they did make mistakes like that!

blowitupref

InchicoreDude wrote: »

So Shay Walsh had nothing to do with it??? From what I remember, he went to challenge the goalie (was it Thompson?) who then dropped the ball into the path of Donnellan.
I think Walsh deserves credit for that - that was my point.

Just found it on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SombwWOejUA

I think Walsh did well to put pressure on the keeper but yeah, he should not have dropped the ball.


Then again, claiming "If only the goalie didnt drop the ball" is not a valid argument. It is an argument akin to "If only Roscommon were better than Galway". Roscommon were not better than Galway on that day for the simple fact that they did make mistakes like that!

Looks like the goalkeeper dropped it on that viewing. I also seem remember in the build up to that late point in Tuam didn't one of the Galway players pick the ball off the ground?

InchicoreDude

blowitupref wrote: »

Looks like the goalkeeper dropped it on that viewing. I also seem remember in the build up to that late point in Tuam didn't one of the Galway players pick the ball off the ground?

But would he have dropped it if there wasnt a Galway player putting him under pressure? I doubt it. that was my point!

Geez, I cant believe Roscommon people are still arguing with me about this 15 years on! :-)

Always_Running

blowitupref wrote: »

Looks like the goalkeeper dropped it on that viewing. I also seem remember in the build up to that late point in Tuam didn't one of the Galway players pick the ball off the ground?

I'd agree it's a goalkeeper mistake, irrelevant who was around him he had the ball was about to hand pass it only to drop it. They say you need a bit of luck to win anything and after sneaking out of Connacht credit to Galway for going on to win that All Ireland.

megadodge

InchicoreDude wrote: »

Crikey, that free kick decision in Tuam in 1998 must be Roscommon's JFK moment. Given the slightest opportunity, Ros people will always bring it up! Anyway. who's to say that Galway would not have scored a point from play if the ref had not blown for a free? They were on the attack at the time.

Also, you could just as easily say that it was top class play by Shay Walsh not fouling the Ros keeper and forcing him into the mistake that led to Galways goal in the replay.

1. It wasn't remotely close to being a legitimate free kick. Cliffy McDonald was wearing white gloves so you can see they were very clearly spread out wide either side of Derek Savage who backed into him and then after McDonald very obviously punched the decending ball away Savage sat down and promptly got a free for it!!!

2. The ball into Savage came from an incident where Gary Fahy clearly picked the ball off the ground straight in front of his goals (very easy free to convert) and then put his head down and charged with it. He promptly got a free for commiting two fouls!!!

3. The ball was punched away by Cliffy as already mentioned, so Galway were no longer on the attack.

Duckworth_Luas

InchicoreDude wrote: »

Geez, I cant believe Roscommon people are still arguing with me about this 15 years on! :-)

You don't have to be from Roscommon to believe the end of that match was a disgrace!

Syferus

Statement regarding Dr. Hyde Park
posted 6 hours ago by PRO Roscommon
The Management Committee of Roscommon GAA was recently informed by the Connacht Council that Dr. Hyde Park will not be considered as a venue for Connacht Senior Football Championship Finals for the foreseeable future.

We were disappointed to receive the news but can accept the reasoning due a number of the concerns contained in the “Slattery Report” which was published last year. Although a number of issues were addressed in the lead up to last year's Connacht Final some of the facilities are not considered suitable and there are a number of Health and Safety issues outstanding.
At present the venue cannot accommodate crowds in excess of 18,750 but can host other Connacht Championship games, All-Ireland qualifiers and other games with smaller attendances.

We are aware of the financial benefits that hosting the past two Connacht Finals has brought to Roscommon town and the impact on our own finances and we are doing our utmost to resolve the situation.
We are currently finalising negotiations with Roscommon Gaels to transfer control of the stadium to Roscommon County Board and once this process has reached a conclusion we will forward a plan to the Connacht Council and Central Council to seek funding for the redevelopment of the Stadium in order to bring the facilities to a standard required for hosting major games and to give the people of Roscommon a Stadium to be proud of.

This has made me madder than anything I've read in a long time.

Prenty playing his usual politics and our county board being as inept as boards come. An absolutely toxic concoction and something that's going to become a huge issue in the county until it's fixed.

padd b1975

Syferus wrote: »

This has made me madder than anything I've read in a long time.

Prenty playing his usual politics and our county board being as inept as boards come. An absolutely toxic concoction and something that's going to become a huge issue in the county until it's fixed.

Raw deal for supporters who bought long term seats in the new stand some years back.

Cosmo Kramer

Sorry lads, but this has been coming for years. Its an awful hellhole, I couldn't believe the state it had been allowed to fall in to for last years Connacht Final - an apparently that was after some emergency repairs were carried out just to get the game. No need for any conspiracy theories or the like.

There really is no need for all the big stadiums in Connacht. I would like to see somewhere like Hyde Park given a total makeover by Roscommon GAA or the Connacht Council or whoever and turned into a good quality 15000 capacity or even 15000 seater stadium for Roscommon home games and as a neutral ground for big qualifier matches. It is ideally located for that but obviously it would need to be financed somehow. Two 30000+ stadiums in the west is plenty.

Duckworth_Luas

Cosmo Kramer wrote: »

Two 30000+ stadiums in the west is plenty.

One is plenty and should have been built in Tuam as a neutral Connacht stadium. East Galway is ideal for all travelling supporters.

Páirc Bolshevik in Castlebar is a concrete kip from Ceausescu's Romania.

All counties could then aim to have modern 10, 15 K stadiums.

The current situation of throwing 10 million here, 5 million there is nonsense.

yabadabado

Cosmo Kramer wrote: »

Sorry lads, but this has been coming for years. Its an awful hellhole, I couldn't believe the state it had been allowed to fall in to for last years Connacht Final - an apparently that was after some emergency repairs were carried out just to get the game. No need for any conspiracy theories or the like.

There really is no need for all the big stadiums in Connacht. I would like to see somewhere like Hyde Park given a total makeover by Roscommon GAA or the Connacht Council or whoever and turned into a good quality 15000 capacity or even 15000 seater stadium for Roscommon home games and as a neutral ground for big qualifier matches. It is ideally located for that but obviously it would need to be financed somehow. Two 30000+ stadiums in the west is plenty.

The Hyde was chosen as the provincial ground in the early '90s. Thats when the terraces were built .There hasn't much been done since and it never got the full backing of the other counties to be the main ground.
If a 15,000 capacity was built that would rule out the Hyde ever having a connacht final again,so that isn't going to happen.
If the Hyde is redeveloped properly it could be the best venue in Connacht ,it would have the upper hand on Pearse and McHale in terms of location and atmosphere.
A modern 20,000 - 25,000 stadium would be ideal but funding would be near impossible to get for that.There is money available once the dispute is sorted out,so hopefully it is soon but I wouldn't hold my breath.

InchicoreDude

It would be nice to know the specifics of what is wrong with Hyde Park at the moment. Is there more details available anywhere?

keane2097

Who is likely to take the fees for Roscommon in Donie's absence?

Cosmo Kramer

InchicoreDude wrote: »

It would be nice to know the specifics of what is wrong with Hyde Park at the moment. Is there more details available anywhere?

From memory some of the terracing behind the goals is in a bad way, the concrete seating in front of the stand is literally crumbling away, the toilets are a mess, the access from the turnstiles is across a field etc. It's just in a really poor state in general.

It's a bit of a throwback to the old McHale Park and Tuam Stadium back when it held championship games, late 80s early 90s time, but antiquated is the word I would use for it in today's terms. It's just not a good advert for Connacht football anymore and while I've had many great days there as a Mayo follower, as well as a few bad ones, I'm glad that it won't be the venue for the biggest event in Connacht sport again anytime soon.

padd b1975

InchicoreDude wrote: »

It would be nice to know the specifics of what is wrong with Hyde Park at the moment. Is there more details available anywhere?

I don't think it creates the right impression when it comes to finals, Its perfectly adequate when it comes to earlier rounds and qualifiers.

I feel the Connaught Council (probably goes for all Provincial Councils) feel its best from a promotional point of view to have their final in the provinces best available stadium.

It's a simple matter of fact that Hyde Park comes third on the list in terms of all round match day experience for supporters.

Syferus

keane2097 wrote: »

Who is likely to take the fees for Roscommon in Donie's absence?

Donie Smith and Senan on their prefered sides and at a push Donie will probably take the long range ones. Both are good free-takers but Smithie doesn't have the booming range of Shine. Senan takes them on his side when Shine and himself start together anyways. Cregger can take a free too, so he may be involved as well.

Always_Running

padd b1975 wrote: »

I don't think it creates the right impression when it comes to finals, Its perfectly adequate when it comes to earlier rounds and qualifiers.

I feel the Connaught Council (probably goes for all Provincial Councils) feel its best from a promotional point of view to have their final in the provinces best available stadium.

It's a simple matter of fact that Hyde Park comes third on the list in terms of all round match day experience for supporters.

I don't know. As been said on here before you wouldn't know a Connacht final was held in Salthill when you arrive back into Galway city. Tuam stadium,hyde park are old grounds with plenty of character they added to the atmosphere the towns were always buzzing when a big game was on but now it seems both are unlikely to host another final.