CHAMPIONSHIP WATCH 31/07/26
Last Sunday evening I texted a number of my Mayo friends to congratulate them on their fantastic win in the All-Ireland final. I received replies from almost every one of them. One in particular caught my eye.
TJ Kilgallon, a great friend who I soldiered with in Sligo many, many moons ago and who would be considered one of Mayo’s greatest ever midfielders, sent the following simple response: ‘Thanks so much Seamus. Unbelievable. No words. I will die happy.’ That about sums it up.
Here in Roscommon, we have had a sometimes bitter rivalry with Mayo over the years, but I have to admit that like many others, as the game went on last Sunday I was hoping that Mayo would do it. The rivalry between our counties will always be there, but I wouldn’t begrudge them this success one little bit.
In a perverse way, the fact that Mayo have actually won Sam may be a huge help to us here in Roscommon – they have proven it can be done!
The heartache experienced by Mayo over the years has been well documented. I was at every one of those losing finals from 1989 onwards. Mayo seemed to invent a new way to lose every time they appeared in a final. But this year was different. Indeed Roscommon can take at least a small bit of credit for helping our neighbours to get over the line.
Such were the repercussions in Mayo after they were hammered by Roscommon in April, Andy Moran had a total re-set and the team came back with all guns blazing. Anyone who was coming out of MacHale Park on that April evening would have said there was a greater chance of seeing pigs flying over Croagh Patrick than there was of Mayo winning the All-Ireland this season. Well, you know what I mean.
One of the reasons why we love sport is because anything can happen and fair play to Mayo, they took the championship match by match, maximised their resources and paid no heed to the outside noise.
You will win nothing in Gaelic games without good forwards and Mayo were blessed with Darragh Beirne, Ryan O’Donoghue and Kobe McDonald this year. That was key last Sunday too.
Of course it was a ‘whole of team’ effort and last weekend’s win against defending champions Kerry was certainly not a fluke. It was thoroughly deserved. Mayo dominated in the middle third, they tackled like demons and they had the players to get the scores.
Those of us who know Mayo people well and who have worked and lived in the county will know how much this All-Ireland win will mean to them. The party will go on until Christmas at least!
Roscommon’s status
So where does it all leave Roscommon? I still think that 2026 was a good year for our team. Those wins against Mayo and Galway in the Connacht Championship were fantastic, two of the best days we have had for many years. The National League campaign was also memorable. To have secured another year in the top division with a round to spare was some achievement.
But Clones was a nightmare and a great pity for everyone concerned. It was a terrible way to end the year.
The Connacht Senior Football Championship has given Roscommon teams and supporters some of the greatest days in their history, but sadly under the new championship format, winning the provincial title is now absolutely no help at all in terms of the All-Ireland race. Mayo have fairly proven that.
The priorities will have to change. The league is important earlier in the year for sure, but a review of the effort that’s normally put in to try to win Connacht will need to take place. The priority has to be the (overall) championship series. It’s a sad reality. Three of the four provincial winners in 2026 were knocked out early in the championship. It is virtually impossible to peak for the provincial championship and then peak again for the All-Ireland series.
Roscommon proved earlier in the year that they have the players to challenge and beat the best teams out there. What we need is belief. If Mayo can do it, so can Roscommon.
The local club championships start this weekend and maybe Mark Dowd (Roscommon manager) and his selectors will unearth a few more diamonds for next year.
In 2027, it will have been 83 years since Roscommon lifted the Sam Maguire Cup. If Mayo can bridge a 75-year gap, why couldn’t Roscommon bridge an 83-year one?
Anything is possible. In the meantime, good luck to Mayo.
