Electric Ireland Connacht Minor (U-17) Championship Final:
Roscommon v Sligo in Dr. Hyde Park on Friday at 7 pm
The biggest problem that the Roscommon minor football management team will have this week is to get the panel of players to try to put last weekend’s sensational win against Galway out of their minds, and given the nature of that win it won’t be an easy task. But the reality of the situation is that although it might go down as one of the best victories by a Roscommon team in many years, it was only a Connacht semi-final and it will count for nothing if they don’t go out and win the Connacht title on Friday night.
Excellent wins against Mayo and Galway will give Roscommon momentum no doubt but if there is any complacency against Sligo it could be very costly indeed.
The fact that Roscommon have overcome Mayo and Galway to reach this Connacht final will make them overwhelming favourites to win the title on home soil. The biggest enemy is complacency and it will not be easy to get these young players to concentrate on the job in hand on Friday night.
When the Roscommon attack got going last weekend they were very impressive and there is plenty of firepower there to get the match-winning scores. Shane Walsh and DJ Hession will have to win the midfield battle and if they can secure enough possession then the likes of Ryan Conlon, Bobby Nugent, Robert Heneghan and Shane McGinley can get the required scores.
Sligo have a number of excellent players, not least Luke Marren who scored 0-9 against Leitrim from play and frees, and midfielder Ross Doherty who weighed in with two fine goals in the semi-final.
However if Roscommon can make a good start and get their attackers into the match early it would be a shock if Sligo were to win this final at Dr Hyde Park. I fully realise that at this level dealing with young players, anything can happen on the day, but Roscommon should have enough in the tank to win another U-17 title.
Prediction: Roscommon.
