Rossies failing to take the next step

I AM not sure how much today will tell us about the potential of this Galway team because it is not a case of whether they will win the Connacht final, but by how much.

Galway beat Roscommon by 11 points last year, and that was arguably a far stronger team than the one which will front-up to the Tribe today.

The loss of so many key players — the most crucial being Cathal Cregg — has weakened a Roscommon team who are hindered also by serious belief issues.

It is astonishing, for all of their underage success that Roscommon have not beaten one of Connacht’s big two in 16 years and this does not have the feel of a day when that stat is going to change.

Galway have some terrific talent in their forward line, not least in Damian Comer (above) who because of his build and his instinct to attack at every chance is hell to mark.

But they also have some terrific ball players, with Shane Walsh a jaw-dropping talent while Michael Daly could well be in the running for young footballer of the year by the summer’s end.

They have a very strong ball winning base in Fiontán Ó Curraoin, Paul Conroy and Tom Flynn, while the likes of Johnny Heaney and Gary O’Donnell cover hard ground.

The question mark that hangs over them is how their full-back line holds up against the best teams and whether they are ruthless enough to see out tight games.

We will have to wait for another day to get the answer to that but for now they will power on.