Higgins relieved to emerge from storm

KEITH HIGGINS paused for a second, sloshed the question around in his mind and came quickly to the conclusion that, no, he had probably never played in worse conditions than those in Dr Hyde Park yesterday.

It was, as they say, Baltic in Roscommon. The wind and rain swept right down the ground over the adjacent graveyard and towards the hospital that has been the source of so much anguish these last few weeks.

It made for a lottery rather than a game of football. Players lost their footing, they lost the ball and more than a few lost their heads in trying to carry the ball into contact when it popped out into the open air with the slightest of touches. It was no place for silliness.