Cathal Cregg refuses to hide behind excuses for poor second half

It is a peculiar day when a football team rattles over 1-18 on a May afternoon, duly wins its first-round championship match and still leaves the field mildly dissatisfied.

Roscommon were mightily impressive in patches during their home win against Leitrim on Sunday, but as they search for clues as to whether they have the wherewithal to derail Mayo they can argue both ways.

The 1-2 which Roscommon produced during injury time of the first half ended the contest. Without those Leitrim would have been hanging in there at half-time.

As it was, the visitors won the plaudits and the scoreboard in the second half, when they summoned more energy and urgency than Roscommon.

"We wouldn't be happy with the second half at all," admits Cathal Cregg, Roscommon's play-anywhere attacker who wore the number 14 shirt on Sunday.

“They really got to grips with us around the middle, and going in against Mayo we can’t allow that to happen.

“I presume we won the stats in the midfield for the first half and that gave us a platform, as did Leitrim in the second and that gave them a platform to really put us under pressure with four or five minutes to go. We got a few late points to give us a bit of breathing space.”

That was a fair summary. But Cregg was not about to let himself or his team-mates off the hook with the excuse that Roscommon switched off because they led 1-12 to 0-5 at the break and looked unassailable.

Leitrim had failed to score from play, struggling to find a way through the high-pressing defence which Roscommon employed and unable to engineer requisite space for Emyln Mulligan to conduct matters.

"We wanted to drive on as much as we could but they really got to grips with us. Cathal Shine got injured and had to come off, and maybe that upset us a bit. Every team will have its purple patch and we knew it wouldn't be easy.

"They have had two good wins against us in the last two years in the FBD finals. It was the same two teams who played in each game, more or less. The two counties don't have a massive pick, it was more or less the same teams. So we knew it would be hard."

Swaggering confidence
The most explicit difference between the teams was the swaggering confidence and accuracy of Roscommon's long-range shooting. Senan Kilbride and Ciarain Murtagh led the charge for the forwards, and Kevin Higgins of Western Gaels also landed three brilliant points in what was a notable performance at centre field.

Mayo's have formidable midfield options between the O'Shea brothers, Barry Moran and Jason Gibbons, but the Mayo mentors are bound to have noted the power and mobility of Higgins and Cathal Shine at centre field. That sector promises to be a battle and if Roscommon can maintain their shooting form they will fancy themselves in Hyde Park.

"The lads really delivered some good ball in, and we got some great scores. Some days they go over. Thankfully, we had that gap when Leitrim did come back against us. In the first half we did the damage but didn't do much in the second half. That is something we are going to have work on – especially going up against Mayo. If you lay off for a period like that you will get destroyed."

Heart of the matter
That point brings Cregg to the heart of the matter for Roscommon. It has been an encouraging season so far with promotion to Division Two and a significant win in the divisional final in Croke Park. Mayo exited the league in less-convincing fashion, fading against Derry in their semi-final.

“A lot of people made a lot of that Derry game. But for 50 minutes they were very good. The last 10 minutes they won’t be happy with, but I don’t think they will get too worried. They are still a very good side. We have improved from last year, but how much we have improved. . .that game will tell us how much.”

There is a sense of contentment about Roscommon under John Evans. Early June is as good a time to host one of the All-Ireland favourites as any.

“Things are going well,” agrees Cregg. “We got up to Division Two. But, again, we are playing a Division One side who were in the All-Ireland final for the past two years.

“It doesn’t get much bigger than that bar probably the Dubs. So we are looking forward to it – to have a crack and see what happens.”