Rossies and boss Evans familiar foes for O’Shea

Roscommon manager John Evans may be something of an unknown quantity for most Mayo football fans, but he needs very little introduction in the O’Shea household in Breaffy.

Jim O’Shea, father of Mayo panellists Aidan, Seamus and Conor, is a native of Killarney and a former club-mate of Evans at Laune Rangers. As a result, the exploits and achievements of the former Tipperary manager have been well discussed among the O’Shea fraternity and they have a fair idea what to expect when Roscommon hit Castlebar on Sunday.

“They had a disappointing year last year under Des Newton but I’m sure John Evans will have them flying,” said Aidan.

“I know him personally, he’s a very good trainer, and I’m sure he’ll have them going well. He’s an up and at it type character. You saw the results he got with Tipperary and he was in with Meath. He’s not driving from Kerry to Roscommon for no reason either. He’s there to be successful. He’ll have them pumped up.”

O’Shea’s trials and tribulations at U21 level with Mayo in recent years mean he is well placed to assess the threat that Roscommon will pose on Sunday. In both 2010 and 2011, the primrose-and-blue brigade ended O’Shea’s aspirations of an elusive Connacht championship medal at that grade and he also watched them trip Mayo up in last year’s competition.

“Roscommon have been my main threat at underage so I’m under no illusions. They’ve been my toughest opponents in Connacht.

“From our point of view, we’re trying to win three back-to-back Connacht titles for the first time in a long time so we’ve been very focused since the start of the year,” he added.

“Beat Galway, and we knew we were still going to be playing Roscommon, which is going to be a difficult game. It was always going to be a difficult Connacht championship to try and win.”

This is a big summer for O’Shea. He finished his studies at Dublin IT last month and started a new job with Allergan Pharmaceuticals in Westport last week. As a result, he will be based in Mayo for the foreseeable future and the long commutes from the capital for training and matches are finished.

On the field, James Horan stationed the gargantuan 22-year-old at midfield for Sunday and an injury-free run-in means he is in an ideal position to showcase his undoubted talent.

“It’s nice to be back home and have a bit of a routine to my life,” he admitted. “The closer you are to home, the easier it is to prepare for inter-county football.

“Being free of injuries makes a huge difference, even mentally. It’s a massive thing going into games knowing that you’ve got the preparation and work done. I haven’t missed a session really this year and I’m seeing the fruits of that.”