Liam McHale now knows hungry Roscommon have appetite for more

By Brendan O’Brien

Defeats produce all sorts of theories. Some of them are even true.

Liam McHale must have had his ear bent by more than a few, after Roscommon’s hopes of claiming a second straight Connacht senior title foundered against Galway, in Dr Hyde Park, last month. One, in particular, seemed to worm its way in deep.

It was basically put to the Roscommon selector that Enda Smith hadn’t put in enough of a shift defensively. McHale found that curious, because, from where he had been looking, the Boyle man was trying to be all things to all men.

“We were talking to Enda after and we thought he didn’t manage the Connacht final.

“We felt he blew a gasket there, because he was trying to create too much. He was working his socks off, back defending and trying to be competitive on the kickout.

“So, we had a lot of chats with Enda, about just being solid in the first-half and saving his energy between the two 50s and then going for it in the second.”

Whatever McHale and Kevin McStay, and anyone else, said, it worked. Smith was ridiculously good against Armagh in last Saturday’s round-four qualifier in Portlaoise.

And he seemed to get better and stronger after the interval.

“He was awesome,” said McStay. “It’s just lovely, when you talk to a fella about something and he plays it to the letter of the law.

“He ended up scoring 2-1 from midfield, which is brilliant. He was so happy and we all were, because he has that sort of skill. You could see that in the Connacht final, but he just tried too hard. As an ex-midfielder myself, I know you can’t do everything for 70 minutes.”

Smith’s time as a footballer hasn’t been dull. He has won minor and senior provincial titles with his county, represented his country at International Rules, and once ran into a goalpost, so it is intriguing to think that he is only 23.

There is more to come from him and this team.

Kevin McStay spoke in the wake of the Armagh win about how it had the feel of a ‘coming of age’ moment for this Roscommon side. About how, for a change, they had managed to breast the tape, having been beaten to it so many times before.

The ratio between youth and experience is good, from goalkeeper, Colm Lavin, and Tadhg O’Rourke, who are at the foothills of their careers, to the old boys’ club of Ian Kilbride, Sean McDermott, and maybe even Peter Domican, who is on the doorstep of 30.

In the middle is a solid mass of men like Enda Smith, who have been around a few years — six in his case — and yet are still on the right side of their peaks years, in an era when fewer make it through to their late twenties.

When McStay and McHale and Ger O’Dowd sat down and looked through the rerun of the Connacht final, they already knew that Roscommon had played well in the first-half, but they were taken by the fact that the effort after the break was pretty good, too.

A failure in front of goal had cost them. How would the squad assimilate it? A provincial title was the sort of goal they could see on the horizon; an All-Ireland title is the sort of mirage that could never fool them.

Had they the appetite for more?

“I was very worried about that, because they would have targeted winning back-to-back Connacht titles and that not doing it would take a lot out of them, which it did. It took them a while to regroup and, thankfully, we had three weeks to do that.

“You could see (against Armagh) that there was a lot of enthusiasm about them. We really wanted it. We felt it was very important for the development of this team to get into the Super 8s and compete.

“That’s the only way you will learn, playing the Tyrones and Dublins.

“You don’t want to be in the Canary Islands, or at home sitting down watching them.” As for what they can do now they are there, who knows?

Roscommon’s last appointment in Croke Park was a painful one, with Mayo having 22 points to spare in their 2017 All-Ireland quarter-final replay, but Roscommon approach Tyrone this week with confidence in their attacking style and a refusal to abandon or tweak it.

They will try to score heavily again this weekend. They will try to win a football game and entertain their supporters while doing it. McHale and McStay believe that by sticking to those beliefs, their young and improving team can continue their climb.

“Mayo have proven it this last few years, that the only way to compete with the Dublins of this era is to get in their faces and that is what we are gearing up towards,” said McHale.

“And they are improving, as a team all the time.”