Roscommon People reporter, Dan Dooner, visited Strokestown on Monday where there was talk of a possible omen ahead of Sunday’s Roscommon Senior Football Championship Final against Boyle. Strokestown’s last two county titles arrived in 1992 and 2002, so will 2022 see The Town at the summit of Roscommon football again?
Frank Hanly, proprietor of Hanly’s Eurospar, said the whole town was looking forward to the club’s first final appearance since 2002, which saw Frank’s brother Donal captain the club to victory.
“There’s a lot of optimism about and the fact they’ve won it in 1992, 2002 and this year of course is 2022, so hopefully the lads will do the business this time,” he said.
“There’s a nice crop of players there and lots of lads getting plenty of experience so I definitely think their time has come and hopefully they can come up trumps on Sunday”.
Jim Mannion of Mannion Insurance on Bawn Street says the excitement has been building ever since Strokestown’s hard-fought semi-final win over Roscommon Gaels.
“The town is buzzing; it’s really come alive and everyone’s delighted to see them in a final. We hope they do well now,” he said.
While many outsiders considered Strokestown underdogs ahead of their semi-final against Roscommon Gaels, that view certainly wasn’t shared by those living in the town.
“Well there’s been confidence in them for a while now. They’re great lads and they work really hard and the town is right behind them,” Jim added.
Local Brothers of Charity team lead Audrey Murphy says Sunday’s final has really captured the imagination of staff and service users alike.
“The excitement is just unreal around Strokestown. They were out the other evening putting up bunting and our volunteers at the radio station were out interviewing people. The hype is something else,” she said.
“We have many people from different clubs but they are all Strokestown for the final. It’s all about the football this week and there’s been non-stop talk about it”.
Audrey, whose son Keith plays for the Black and Amber, says she’s quietly confident of a Strokestown victory over Boyle this Sunday.
“I think we’ll win…we’ll be positive! I see it as equal between ourselves and Boyle but I’d be hopeful that we might just win it by one or two points,” she said.
“I remember 1992 really well because I was ‘expecting’ – so I was chauffeur for getting everyone in and out of the pub! I had a clear head and I remember them reliving the game every minute of every day and that went on for weeks afterwards. The celebrations were just unreal on both occasions (1992 and 2002),” she said.
“This means so much to any club and the lads can only go out and do their best on the day. We wish the best to both teams…but especially Strokestown!”
Sports presenters at local community radio station Our Voice FM, Kevin Carroll and Peter Dolan, have had a keen eye on this year’s championship and both remain extremely confident that this is Strokestown’s year.
Kevin tipped The Town to win by five points while Peter was slightly more reserved in predicting a two-point win.
“Hopefully Strokestown can do it and get over the line. I was at the semi-final against Roscommon Gaels and it was a great goal by Paddy Brogan (in the second half). Hopefully he can do it again against Boyle this Sunday,” Kevin said.
“I was expecting them to beat Roscommon Gaels. They’re a good young team and hopefully they show it at the Hyde this Sunday. I’m really excited for this match and there’s a good buzz around the town this week,” he concluded.
