Roscommon no longer the Connacht bridesmaids

“Roscommon know they are capable of winning Connacht titles now,” says  Seánie McDermott.

Diarmuid Murtagh of Roscommon shoots to score his side's first goal during the Allianz Football League Division 2 Final match between Roscommon and Galway at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

In his mind’s eye, Seánie McDermott can still vividly recall going to his first Connacht final between Roscommon and Galway in 1998. He was 14. McDermott travelled with his parents, brother and two sisters. The weather was atrocious. A deluge of rain fell from the skies on top of Tuam Stadium. “We got absolutely drowned,” says McDermott now.

The replay was one of those eternal and electric championship occasions, a baking hot afternoon with Dr Hyde Park bursting at the seams, a riveting match that stretched into extra-time before Galway edged home. “It was disappointing but it was a titanic battle,” says McDermott. “The place was absolutely hopping. I was very young but those games had a big impact on me.”