Eoghan Carthy of Roscommon CBS, ahead of their Masita All-Ireland Post Primary Schools B Football Final against Patrician Carrickmacross, Monaghan, during the Masita All-Ireland Post Primary Schools Finals Captains Call at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile.
By John Harrington
With less than 400 pupils Roscommon CBS are a good deal smaller than a lot of the heavy-hitters of post primary schools football, but they have a happy habit of punching above their weight.
On Sunday they’ll contest the Masita GAA Post Primary Schools Paddy Drummond Cup (Senior B Football) All-Ireland Final, an occasion they’re not unfamiliar with.
They were champions in 2019 and 2011 and beaten finalists in 1997, and have also had some big days in the Hogan Cup (Senior ‘A’ Football), reaching the final in 2015 and the All-Ireland semi-final in 1998.
“There's a good tradition of football in the school and it's great to keep it going and try to get through the next generation and keep adding in to the Roscommon football scene, that's the aim of the game,” says Roscommon CBS manager, Eoghan Coll.
“We’d draw our players from a good mix of clubs. Roscommon Gaels, St. Dominics, Oran, St. Faithleachs, Kilbride, St. Croans,…there’s seven or eight strong clubs feeding in to us in any given year.
“We like it to be player-driven. If they’re interested, we’ll set it up for them and then they drive it.
“This year we’ve had a few challenge games against 'A' schools just to try to push it and, in fairness to them, when you put it in front of them, almost to a man they take it on and they're interested and they want it. They're always looking to see what's next. They train hard and they train well.
“There's a lot of stuff there for them, and they certainly lap it up and keep going with it. The fact that the players are really pushing it is a big positive. In other years you might have to be dragging it a little bit more. There's none of that this year.”
Giving the players the responsibility of driving the team themselves has helped develop leadership skills in the group that have been very evident in matches when their backs have been against the walls.
“Particularly in the Connacht semi-final when we were behind in it for a lot of it against a big, physical Oranmore team,” agrees Coll. “A lot of teams would have buckled and said, we've had a good year, and left it at that.
“But they kept at it and kept at it and we got a goal then and a couple of points down the stretch and our fitness was good and we squeezed over the line by a point.
“They've proven themselves to be mentally tough. We'll have to show that mental toughness again on Sunday but we're definitely in a good place going into it.”
Roscommon CBS players celebrate after their Connacht Final win.
Their opponents on Sunday are Patrician High School Carrickmacross, a school that Roscommon CBS have some history with as they lost to them in the 1997 All-Ireland Final.
Coll isn’t quite sure what to expect from the Monaghan school, other than the fact they’re bound to be a very good team too if they’ve made it this far.
“You might get a bit of a form-line in your province because you’ve played teams up along and you know who's there but when you get to this stage of the competition you're kind of nearly more focused on yourself.
“You know your own way of playing and obviously you try to adapt a little bit around them but the form-lines wouldn't be as clear as they would be in the province.
“They're going to be good, you're assuming that, and we're going to try to counteract them as best as well can but I'll be telling our boys to focus on our own strengths.
“If we can play our own game well I think that we'll certainly be in with a great shout and I'm sure that they'll be thinking much the same.
“It's whoever can execute it on the day. Nerves is an issue too. It doesn't seem to have cropped up hugely so far for us but obviously this is the biggest day yet and you can never write that off either.
“We try to keep it as calm and normal as possible, keep the routine the same, and hopefully it will all go swimmingly.”
What would it mean to the Roscommon school if they could win this competition for the second time in six years?
“It would be brilliant for the lads,” says Coll. “They've put in a lot of work there. I was here the last time in 2019 and it's just a great buzz. The age they're at, they have no inhibitions, there's a bit of nerves but they just want to play.
“They want to do their best. It's just brilliant if it does come off, the joy that it brings.
"That also inspires the next group of young lads, the first years and second years in the school, they'll see it and go that could be us in a few years’ time.”
Sunday, March 9
Masita GAA Post Primary Schools Paddy Drummond Cup (Senior B Football) Final
Roscommon CBS v Patrician High School Carrickmacross, Glennon Brothers Pearse Park, 2pm
