Roscommon v Sligo on Saturday at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park, Longford at 12.30 pm
Roscommon will clash with old rivals Sligo in the Division Three semi-final on Saturday and with the score at one win apiece over the past ten months there is much at stake when the teams take the field in Longford.
Roscommon will have great memories of a wonderful Connacht title win last summer against the Yeats County but in this year’s league campaign Sligo turned the tables with a five point win.
The winners will qualify for the Division Three final and with promotion to Division Two at stake both teams have much to play for. Roscommon have mixed some brilliant football with some average fare in this campaign. In a number of games Michael Finneran’s side have blazed a trail only to go out of games and on a couple of occasions they have been hanging on at the end.
However, a superb attacking performance against Offaly in their final league game will have given the players a lot of confidence as they head into this weekend’s game.
Manager Finneran believes it’s an ‘ideal’ match to have with the championship just around the corner.
“Roisin Wynne and Joan Geoghegan will not be available but we have everyone else. This will be a very tight game. Sligo are a good side. We had a great win against them last year in the championship but they had a lot of injuries and a lot of their players have come back now and they are a stronger side
“They beat us in the league earlier in the year and we conceded four goals that day which was disappointing but there is very little between these two teams. It’s a great game to have with the championship coming up and it would be great to win it and get to the final. We would love to be in with a chance of promotion to Division Two.
“We have tried out a lot of players during the league campaign and it has been a mixed bag for us in terms of the way we have played but hopefully we can produce a good display on Saturday and get into a national final. On our best form we are well capable of winning,” he concluded.
If Roscommon can ‘keep the back door closed’ they have the strength at midfield and in attack to get the scores to win this semi-final. With the championship coming into view it would be a great boost for the team to get into the league final.
Prediction: Roscommon
