Door open for Rossies to make their mark
FOOTBALL takes a breather this weekend, and it allows me to make a few observations on what we have seen so far this spring. Dublin have barely raised a gallop yet and they are sitting pretty on top of the Division 1 table. A place in the semi-finals is already booked and nobody would be too surprised if they retained their National League title without really getting out of second gear.
Getting to this point, without stretching themselves, tells us something about the standard of football so far. The League action has been pretty exciting, there have been a few thrilling games and some close finishes, but the standard hasn’t been particularly high.
And as well as Dublin appear to be going, I think they will struggle later on this summer to fill the holes left by Rory O’Carroll and Jack McCaffrey. After conceding 3-14 to Donegal in 2014, Jim Gavin implemented a new defensive system that served his team very well last year. But that system was dependant on O’Carroll and Cian O’Sullivan. Those two players were the glue that held it together and now O’Carroll has gone, without a ready-made replacement.
There are signs in the totals that Dublin have conceded in the League, 0-16 against Monaghan, 0-14 against Kerry and 2-10 against Cork, that the system is not as water-tight as it looked in 2015. Even for a county of Dublin’s deep resources, losing one of the game’s best full-backs and the footballer of the year may be a little too much.
Kerry are the other team who might have issues later in the year. Okay, they have reacted well to the defeat in the All-Ireland final but the players who have reacted well are the veterans.
Aidan O’Mahony was excellent last week in Castle bar, in aC ian O’Sullivan-type role in protecting the full-back line, but you have to wonder if he has the legs to fulfil that role in Croke Park when the ground gets harder. Marc Ó Sé bombed forward and scored a fantastic point, Colm Cooper shook off rustiness to grow in influence in MacHale Park. Kieran Donaghy and Bryan Sheehan have both played prominent roles this spring. Those five players are all over 30 and it is difficult to see them maintaining that form for the entire year. Kerry need some of their younger players to step up, but there have been no signs of that yet.
So there is a spot for two new teams to come into the reckoning. On the evidence of the League thus far, those teams may be Tyrone and Roscommon.
Okay, Tyrone are playing in the second tier but they have probably been the most impressive team in the League, so far. Mickey Harte has rebuilt yet another team. Colm Cavanagh has been superb in midfield, Mattie Donnelly is going from strength to strength.
But it has been their young forwards who have really caught the eye.
Connor McAliskey, Darren McCurry and Mark Bradley are three excellent footballers. They pushed Kerry to the limit in last year’s All-Ireland semi-final and it was only a lack of a clinical edge that denied them a place in the final.
On the evidence of this season so far, they have discovered that now.
And I think this coming summer will be the easiest for Roscommon to make an impression. They have been developed piece-meal over the last few years and have been slowly building. Of course, after winning Division 2 last year, things came apart in the Championship but they have four regulars who weren’t playing in 2015 for one reason or another — Fintan Cregg, Seán Purcell, Conor Devaney and Geoffrey Claffey and all four, especially Cregg, have made a serious impact in Roscommon’s rise up the Division 1 table.
I may take a closer look at how the Roscommon got their house in order next week, ahead of their big game with Mayo in the Hyde.
But they are certainly a team to keep an eye on.
They have been playing some lovely football and it seems like they are not getting carried away with the success. They are keeping their feet on the ground and doing their job on the pitch.
They have options all over their attack and they are playing as a real cohesive unit. There may be a place or two free at football’s top table this summer and that presents a real opportunity for Roscommon to make an impact.
There is a spot for two new teams to come into the reckoning