Roscommon

Titles: 1 2018 league: Division 2 champions seeing off Cavan in the final 2018 championship: Finished in 4th place in Group 2 of the Super 8s Captain: Not yet named Manager: Anthony Cunningham (1st season) Key Player: Diarmuid Mur tagh Up and Comer: Ciarán Lennon Playing Kerry: Round 7, Sunday, March 24, Dr Hyde Park 2 pm

Prospects: For the Division 2 champions the priority is quite clear – survival at all costs. Roscommon managed to surive the last time they made it to Division 1, but this time looks even more challenging for them. The fixture list doesn’t look to have been especially kind to them – they’re away to Mayo in the first game and haven’t won in MacHale Park in eighteen years – but they do have home games against Monaghan and Tyrone giving them a fighting chance. With Kevin McStay stepping away from the role to be replaced by former Galway hurling boss Anthony Cunningham, we can expect a new emphasis on defence. Given how porous the Rossies were at times last season that would seem to be a wise course of action. Their Super 8 experience was a somewhat torrid one – they ended up with a scoring difference of minus thir ty nine by the end of it – but at least they had that experience of playing top class sides ahead of their return to the top flight. The changes we’d expect to the Roscommon side are more likely to be tactical rather than in terms of personnel, but big things are expected of young Ciarán Lennon this year. Lennon featured last season, but is expected to hopefully push on to the next level this year. Roscommon will probably be hoping that Kerry will be safe by the time they come to the Hyde in the last round. It’s a game that could very well decide their fate.