Roscommon forced to play in Longford

The Roscommon footballers have been forced to concede home advantage for Sunday’s league fixture against Down owing to an unplayable pitch at Hyde Park and a Croke Park ruling the game could not be staged at Kiltoom.

The Division 1 clash has now been fixed for Pearse Park, Longford, with Roscommon chairman Seamus Sweeney last night expressing his regret the game could not be played at a Roscommon venue.

“We found ourselves in the situation where our county ground, Hyde Park was unplayable and Croke Park and the CCCC refused to allow us to use our secondary county ground, Kiltoom,” said Sweeney. “CCCC would not be happy with Kiltoom as an alternative venue given the expected attendance and the restricted capacity at the ground, we were told.”