Roscommon and Murtagh out to take second chance after Tyrone disappointment 

The Rossies take on Monaghan on Saturday. 

Roscommon senior football captain, Diarmuid Murtagh, at the launch of the GAA Football All-Ireland Championship in Trim. Picture: INPHO/Tom O’Hanlon

Were it not for the second opportunity of a Round 2B tie, Diarmuid Murtagh and Roscommon may have tormented themselves all winter reliving the closing moments of their loss to Tyrone.

The Niall Morgan kick-out, the Conn Kilpatrick fetch, the opening created by Eoin McElholm, the tap over free converted by Ethan Jordan which settled an absorbing Round 1 game.

Roscommon lost no face in a gutsy defeat and the three-week gap to today's clash with Monaghan was particularly useful for a county coming off a well celebrated Connacht title success that came against the head.

But if Murtagh is entirely honest, those celebrations and the blunting of keen edges, and fatiguing of previously sharp minds, may have had a little bit to do with how that Morgan-Kilpatrick-McElholm-Jordan episode played out.

"It would have been a thing that we looked back on, and we're a small bit disappointed with," said Roscommon captain and talisman forward Murtagh.

"You don't have to let them up the field so easily, especially when you have that momentum after just scoring (a two-pointer). It can just be a small bit of lack of focus. And I suppose I go back to that mental capacity - maybe we were mentally tired from the previous performances and the heat of the day.

"And that would sound like excuses now, but just looking back on it, I think maybe the lack of focus coming towards the end of that game probably just caught us out."

Murtagh stressed that he isn't running down Tyrone's efforts or performance. But there is room for Roscommon improvement for sure and that's no bad place to be ahead of a win-or-bust trip to Clones.

The Dublin based schoolteacher, in his 13th year as a Roscommon senior, is optimistic that the quality of the opposition and gravity of the occasion will compel his team to perform at a high level.

But he is aware too that their entire summer could easily be over this evening.

"We feel like we're in a good position because this year we haven't come under the radar like previous years to win a provincial title," he said. "We've had that consistency in the League and we've beaten Division 1 teams.

"Tyrone, to me, are still a Division team, even though they haven't played there in the League this year. I think that has stood to us, being a Division 1 League team, because we've had to maintain that level and focus on our own performances at that level.

"Look, we know we could be out of the Championship after this game, that could happen. But it's not a case where maybe in previous years, if we were to lose to a team...Monaghan are a good team. I think the most annoying thing for us was we were capable in previous years and lost to teams that we were perceived as being better than, or that we should be getting further in the Championship.

"So it's actually good for us, I think, playing these teams like Monaghan at this level. I think it brings out the best in us."

Murtagh goes again in a Roscommon team showing two changes from the side that started against Tyrone. Brian Stack and Eoin Ward come in for Ruaidhrí Fallon and Enda Smith, the latter's absence from the entire panel a significant blow.

Monaghan have their own issues. They lost Bobby McCaul to an ACL injury suffered in the Round 1 loss to Mayo. Stephen O'Hanlon, Ryan Wylie and Ryan McAnespie all make the 26 - Wylie is actually in the team - after injury concerns although late changes wouldn't surprise anyone.

If there's a surprise trump card somewhere in the middle of it all, perhaps it will be the influence of Roscommon coach Jason Sherlock. Remember him?

"He has been understated," said Murtagh. "I think that shows the stature of the man, that he doesn't want to be the centre of attention. He's happy to be in the background with the group, publicly. But when we're training, he's not in the background, he's very hands-on. Just a brilliant fella, great football brain, good with people. There's a lot to be said for that."