GAME ON…

Connacht 0 Others 4

As has been widely noted in the aftermath of Sunday’s exciting finale to the Round Robin series, it was a bad day for Connacht teams!

Four were in action, and all four lost. By far the biggest talking point from Connacht’s Bad Day at the Office was Mayo’s shocker against Cork, Kevin McStay’s men throwing away an automatic All-Ireland quarterfinal place when they lost a six-point lead when being overhauled by Cork (winners by 1-14 to 1-11). It means that instead of having a guaranteed quarter-final to look forward to, Mayo now travel to play Galway in an eagerly anticipated preliminary quarter-final.

Galway lost by a point to Armagh in an exciting finale in Carrick-on-Shannon, and now host their great rivals, Mayo.

Roscommon’s defeat to Kildare (1-16 to 1-15) means Davy Burke’s team now face Cork away this Saturday. Meanwhile, Sligo were always likely to have a difficult afternoon against Dublin, but their 3-23 to 0-8 hammering completed a forgettable day for Connacht teams.

We’ll be ready for Saturday – Enda

Man of the match Enda Smith was philosophical in defeat, anxious to give credit to Kildare, and keen to assure supporters that Roscommon would be up for this weekend’s preliminary quarter-final.

He told Seamus Duke: “We knew Kildare would come with a bit of bite today. I didn’t feel that we played awfully bad, but we just were not at the level Kildare were at. All these games are tight and it was decided by a last-minute free. It wasn’t a hammering or anything like that. It’s very disappointing not to win but we are still out next weekend.

“We wanted to be playing in Hyde Park but we will be ready to travel next weekend and we will take it from there. Our shooting was a bit off today but there were other aspects to it (as to why they lost). Kildare are a fine side and they kicked some great scores. They deserved their win and fair play to them”.

Making his mark…

Full ‘marks’ to Kildare’s Kevin Feely…he claimed three points in Sunday’s pulsating match with Roscommon as a direct result of winning ‘marks’ though his adept fielding.

On social media, people were raving about the Kildare star’s impact on the game, his fielding and quick thinking in claiming ‘marks’ a big factor in deciding a close encounter in favour of the Lilywhites.

‘Kevin Feely soars to the occasion’ was just one of the headlines highlighting his role.

Meanwhile, Kildare manager Glenn Ryan said Feely has done brilliantly to recover from injury to re-establish himself as one of the best midfielders in the country. Definitely a ‘mark’ of the man’s commitment…

-Paul Healy

Stat Attack

Wides: Kildare 5 (3, first half); Roscommon 11 (7, first half)

Red cards: 0

Black cards: Kildare 2 (Alex Beirne 16, Ryan Houlihan 21); Roscommon 0

Yellow cards: Kildare 2 (Ben McCormack, Shea Ryan); Roscommon 2 (Conor Daly, Davy Murray)

Attendance: 7,058

Man of the Match: Enda Smith (Roscommon)