ROSSIES OUT TO MAKE THEIR MARK

ROSCOMMON are determined to be around for a long time this summer as well as for a good one. Ciaran Murtagh has claimed that while the Rossies — the only of the four beaten provincial finalists to make it through to the Super 8s — are thrilled to have made the elite cut, they will not rest there. ‘We always wanted to get to the Super 8s but we are not there to make up the numbers now. ‘We will be going out to express ourselves,’ vowed the 26-year-old, who all but wore his legs down to a stub in his team’s thrilling seven-point win over Armagh last weekend. The accusation has been levelled that they benefited from a kind draw — they faced Leitrim in the Connacht semi-final and avoided heavyweights Tyrone, Monaghan and Kildare in the fourth round qualifiers — but that ignores their sustained progress under Kevin McStay’s three-year reign. Three Connacht final appearances — two defeats sandwiching last year’s Nestor Cup success — and two promotions to Division 1, again neatly sandwiching last year’s relegation, suggests that this is a genuine top eight team. However, it is one thing being a top eight team in the spring, quite another being one in the summer. ‘That is exactly it,’ admits Murtagh. ‘I know the League games are important as well but to get into the League quarter-finals is massive for us. If you are not there, you can’t be going around saying you are a top eight side.’ There are all kinds of reasons why they have made it this far, perhaps the most powerful is the mental maturity evident this summer. Last Saturday’s win over Armagh was significant in that it was their first time in three attempts — 2011 and 2016 the unsuccessful others — to bounce back from the disappointment of losing a provincial final to make it into the business end of the AllIreland series. ‘We knew going into the Connacht final that we had another game left but obviously we wanted to win that too. ‘This was a massive game for us in terms of our development, so to get this win was great for us. ‘We can express ourselves now, there was a small bit of pressure off us but we still have to go and perform next week or this win over Armagh means nothing.’