Enda Smith: 'It probably wasn’t pretty on the eye, but it was something that we worked on'
JOB DONE: Roscommon’s Enda Smith celebrates after the Connacht GAA senior football championship quarter-final at Hastings MacHale Park, Castlebar. Pic. INPHO/James Crombie
Hannibal said it best. Don’t you just love it when a plan comes together. Last weekend, Roscommon set the terms with their own blueprint versus Mayo and emerged with a four-point win. The A-Team raided Castlebar.
Davy Burke’s side set out their stall early in the Connacht quarter-final. Against a stiff wind, they withdrew numbers behind the ball and deployed the outstanding Enda Smith in a deeper role.
They continued their tactic of going long with the kick-out even when it started poorly, eventually scoring 1-3 from it while conceding 0-2. Crucially, they took both goal chances while the favourites failed to take theirs.
The victory was well-deserved and one to savour for man of the match Smith. “It’s brilliant to be honest,” he said post-match.
“We knew coming down that Mayo were a high pressing team; we had to get control of the game and take the crowd and momentum out of it.
“When they got on top of us in the league, they took control so we were conscious of that. It probably wasn’t pretty on the eye, but it was something that we worked on.
"We got our goal chances, maybe a small bit fortuitous, but you have to take them and we did today, just like we did four years ago.”
Rewind to that league fixture for a moment. It finished Mayo 1-16 Roscommon 2-11. On the field long after the final whistle, Burke was asked how relevant that defeat was ahead of their championship meeting. After taking some time, he answered that he had learned a hell of a lot from that game. So it showed on Sunday.
“We were conscious that the wind wouldn’t win the game for us,” Smith explained. “The conditions were key. We had to mind the ball and our first touch had to be spot on.
"The message at half time was to retain the ball, but Mayo are a high pressing team and we probably got a small bit too lateral. We needed someone to straighten up and draw someone and that opens up the whole pitch.
“We did it once or twice, probably not enough. But Diarmuid kicked a couple at the end. Coxy got his one and that saw us home. Defensively the boys at the back were incredible.”
That is becoming a theme. In the entire league Roscommon conceded just three goals. Stephen Coen hit the crossbar but for much of the second half Mayo were unable to find any space in the attacking third. Kevin McStay’s outfit scored just six points from play in total.
“A lot of questions have been asked of us defensively over the past few years, at times probably rightly so.
"But Stacky, David Murray, Niall Daly were immense and that made the difference. They kept Tommy Conroy, Ryan O’Donoghue, Aidan O’Shea, a potent attacking force, very quiet. That was massive.”
Stopping them is one thing and they did that well, Mayo coughed up twice as many turnovers in the attacking third as Roscommon did. What happens next is another. Their attack was efficient and they finished with 1-4 from turnovers versus 0-3 in the opposite column.
A solid day’s work all in all. Next they welcome Galway to Dr. Hyde Park with the winner set to take on New York or Sligo in the Connacht decider.
“It doesn’t get any easier,” said Smith with a smile. “We’ll enjoy tonight, it’s championship so you have to enjoy it. It’s what we play for. But we’ll get back on the horse tomorrow and get ready for two weeks.”
No doubt they will be. Time now for another plan.
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