All-Ireland Masters Football Shield final: Roscommon v Meath in Drumlish on Saturday at 3 pm
The Roscommon Masters football team will play Meath this Saturday in the All-Ireland Shield final with hopes high that they can bring silverware home for a second successive season.
Roscommon lost the 2021 and 2023 plate (third tier) finals before making it third time lucky with victory in 2025 when they defeated Armagh in the final in Kiltoom (1-15 to 0-10).
A powerful second-half performance secured the title for Roscommon, with the Connacht team outscoring their opponents by 1-9 to 0-4 during that period, Paul Gilleran scoring the only goal of the game.
With the Plate success memorably achieved last year, Roscommon competed at ‘Shield’ level this season, this being the second tier of Masters football. Last weekend Donegal defeated Dublin in the final of the top tier competition. Roscommon actually reached the senior final two years ago, losing to Tyrone in Cavan, so there is no doubt that the county is building quite a profile at Masters level.
The current crowded club fixture list has not helped the Masters’ in the build-up, as team manager Anthony Carroll explains.
“I know that there is very little we can do about it but we have a number of players who will be playing for their clubs in the championship this weekend. For instance Senan Kilbride will be on duty for St Brigid’s on Sunday and won’t be available (to us). He is a big loss to us. We have a few others who will be missing as well.”
It’s been a good campaign for Roscommon so far, as Carroll confirmed. “We played six group games and we won four. We lost to Donegal who went on to win the All-Ireland last weekend, and we also lost to Sligo. We won all the other games. We beat Monaghan in the semi-final.”
So how does he view the team’s prospects against Meath? Carroll admits that the management team don’t know much about their opponents. “Most of their players used to play for Cavan because they didn’t have their own team, but they have their own side this year and they have the likes of Joe Sheridan playing for them so I presume they will be strong. We are looking forward to the challenge. The lads have been training hard and have put in a lot of work so hopefully we can do enough to win it on the day.”
The Roscommon panel includes many well-known players who have played for the county at all levels. Amongst those involved are Sean Purcell (Boyle), Geoffrey Claffey (Castlerea St Kevin’s), Conor Beirne (Elphin), Richard Dooner (Kilglass Gaels), Dermot Foley (Kilmore), Cathal Dineen (Roscommon Gaels), Ian and Senan Kilbride (St Brigid’s), Seanie McDermott (Western Gaels), and Ger Heneghan (Garrycastle).
Selector Liam Butler says that interest in Masters football is increasing every year. “When we started out a number of years ago there were just 11 teams but now there are 22 competing and the standard is improving every year. A lot of the players are still playing for their clubs, which is a big help.”
Liam says that the new players on the panel this year have all contributed positively. “Aidan Dooney, Darragh Hussey and Seanie Purcell are only in this year but they are performing well. Something unique about Roscommon is that we have three sets of brothers on our panel – the Kilbrides, the Coxs and the McCormacks.”
Butler was anxious to acknowledge the support the Masters have received. “We have received great support from our sponsors. We’d like to thank Roscommon County Board, Garvey’s Bar in Ballintubber, GRG Sports in Ballaghaderreen, and Dockery & Gorman Electrical Contractors” he concluded.
The 2026 Roscommon panel
The 2026 Roscommon panel is as follows: Sean Purcell, Aaron Sharkey, David Kelly, Mark O’Donoghue, Seamus Keane, Roch Hanmore (Boyle), Sean Ryan, Geoffrey Claffey (Castlerea St Kevin’s), Jason Carney, Conor Beirne (Elphin), Tom Bannon, David Delaney, Niall Connolly (Fuerty), Richard Dooner, Gerry Nugent (Kilglass Gaels), Dermot Foley, Garry Connellan, Paddy McCormack, Damien Tiernan (Kilmore), Paul Foxe, Anthony McDermott (Kilbride), Alan Daly (Michael Glaveys), Sean Fahy, Paul Kelly (Pádraig Pearses), Cathal Dineen (Roscommon Gaels), Terence Kelly (St Adian’s), John Murtagh, Tony Fallon (St Barry’s), Cormac Sheehy, Senan Kilbride, Ian Kilbride, Robbie Kelly (St Brigid’s), Gerry Leech, Joseph Towey, David Hussey, Brian Mullen (St Croan’s), Ultan Kelly (St Dominic’s), Darragh Hussey, Aidan Dooney, Adrian Murtagh (St Faithleach’s), Paul Gilleran, Ronan Beirne (St Joseph’s), Neil Cox, Ronan Cox (St Michael’s), Michael McNama, Eddie Noone (St Ronan’s), Damien Caslin, John McHugh (Strokestown), Stephen McCormack (Tulsk Lord Edwards), Adrian Frayne, Sean McDermott (Western Gaels), David Scahill (Shandonagh), Ger Heneghan (Garrycastle).
Manager: Anthony Carroll (Kilmore). Selectors: Damien Garvey (St Croan’s), Declan Woods (Éire Óg), Liam Butler (Elphin).
