Roscommon have enough in armoury to prevail over Sligo

And finally, on the 76th day, Sligo got to play football again. Their closing league game against Armagh took place on April 5th.

To get a sense of how long that is, project forward by 76 days and we’ll be at All-Ireland hurling final weekend.

Assuming no draws this Saturday afternoon, three counties will have left the championship by the time the ball is thrown in on the first game of Sligo’s summer tonight.

Truly, the GAA weaves some tangled webs at times.

The extended break has given them plenty of time to polish up their weaponry ahead of the visit of the Rossies.

Privately, they took huge delight in hearing John Evans declare his side’s All-Ireland ambitions after the Division Two title.

The subsequent defeat of the Roscommon under-21s to Tyrone at tonight’s venue was filed away as well. For all the buzz and potential Roscommon have about them, be assured that Sligo fancy themselves here.

In fairness, they’re not without a shout. There aren’t many Division Three teams that can lay claim to three on-their-day match-winners in the forwards but Sligo have David Kelly, Adrian Marren and Mark Breheny.

Length of tooth will probably prevent at least one of the three from finishing out the 70 but if Sligo can get them on the ball, they’re capable of a tipping away to a scoreline of something like 1-14 or so.

Obvious strengths

The question is whether that will be enough against a Roscommon side whose most obvious strengths are to be found in the forwards. The suspicion is that it won’t be.

Home advantage certainly can’t be relied on to count for much – neither of these counties has won a home tie against the other since 1997.

And you would feel a lot better about Sligo’s prospects if Charlie Harrison was available to shut down (presumably) one of the two Murtaghs, Diarmuid and Ciarán.

Instead, Sligo will likely run out of numbers in defence eventually.

Senan Kilbride will draw the cover on the edge of the square, leaving space for Cathal Cregg and Enda Smith to run into.

The kick-passing of Cathal Shine from midfield was a feature of Roscommon’s league and though Niall Carew is too canny not to have a plan to cut off the supply, there are just too many ways Roscommon can hurt them.

THE LOWDOWN
Last meeting: July 10th 2010, Connacht SFC Final, Castlebar - Roscommon 0-14 Sligo 0-13.
Match odds: Roscommon 4/11 Sligo 3/1, Draw 9/1.
Injuries: Roscommon are without long-term absentee Kevin Higgins (collarbone) and it remains to be seen if the mask they've fashioned for Ultan Harney's cheekbone allows him gametime. Sligo won't have Charlie Harrison (cruciate) for the year and Johnny Martin (ankle) misses out also.
Just the ticket: Stand €25; Terrace €20; U16 €5.
Verdict: Roscommon.
SLIGO: Aidan Devaney; Ross Donovan, Kevin McDonnell, Daniel Maye; Keelan Cawley, Brendan Egan, Eoin Flanagan; Cian Breheny, Niall Murphy; Criostóir Davey, Mark Breheny, Neil Ewing; David Kelly, Pat Hughes, Adrian Marren.
ROSCOMMON: Darren O'Malley; Sean McDermott, Niall Carty, Neil Collins; Ronan Stack, Niall Daly, Ciaran Cafferkey; Ian Kilbride, Cathal Shine; Conor Daly, Cathal Cregg, Enda Smith; Diarmuid Murtagh, Senan Kilbride, Ciaráin Murtagh.
Referee: Maurice Deegan (Laois).