St Dominic's senior hurlin g team captain Jack Lohan and and vice-captain Michaél Byrne pictured with newly sponsored gear bags, training tops and togs ahead of the County Final on Sunday.
By John Harrington
A cursory glance at the tale of the tape might make you think that Sunday’s Roscommon SHC Final between Four Roads and St. Dominic’s will be a predictable affair.
In one corner you have the dominant force of Roscommon hurling, Four Roads, who are looking to win a 36th county title and complete a three-in-a-row in the process.
In the other are St. Dominic’s, who have only won the championship three times previously and are appearing in their first county final since 2001.
Tradition leans very heavily in favour of Four Roads then, but the form-line suggests that at the very least St. Dominics are going to give this match a right good rattle.
They were superb when beating Athleague by 4-15 to 2-10 in the semi-final, have scored 19 goals in five championship matches, and from the very start of the season have looked like a very focused group determined to upset the championship odds this year.
“We were, yeah from the very first day we went out,” says team manager Martin ‘Thady’ Beirne.
“We started back in February and we brought a good coach in, Joe Keane, he played in goals for Portumna for a few years and he has a few All-Irelands in his back pocket and hurled with Joe Canning and Ollie Canning and all of those boys.
“We brought Joe in at the tail end of last year and started a bit of work and got him in from the start this year. We started back on the 24th of February and every lad bought in. When training is good and you have numbers then it's very easy to get lads to the pitch.
“There was always hurlers in St. Dominics, it was just to get lads to realise that if they put in a bit of work that they could achieve something.
“It's the same with anything, you get back what you put in. If you put in an effort and you have lads fit and you have the hurlers, you'll go a long way.”
The encouraging thing for St. Dominic’s is that, regardless of how Sunday’s Final goes, this team should be capable of challenging for silverware for years to come.
Knockcroghery is bedecked in blue and white ahead of Sunday's Rosocmmon SHC Final.
A few stalwarts are still manning key positions in the team, but in the main they’re a young side with their best years ahead of them.
“Yeah, it's a very young panel,” says Beirne. “Eight of the starting 15 weren't born the last time we were in a final. Our captain, Jack Lohan, is 23 and was born the year we were last in a final.
“This year we brought through eight of last year's minors onto the senior panel which is mighty. Two lads came on the last day in the semi-final against Athleague.
“We've a couple of older lads too. Mark Miley, he won an All-Ireland in goal with Roscommon back in '06. He's the oldest lad on the panel. Then you've Naos Connaughton who is banging in the goals at 34.
“The next lad down then is 26. The youngest lad on the team, Gavin Staunton, is only after going into Leaving Cert. It's mighty. The vast majority are aged 20 to 23 so it's great for the future and that's what we're telling them.
“You want to bottle this feeling. In the last two weeks we've had 35 lads up training and what we're saying to them is that win or lose next Sunday you want to be back here next year.”
The ace in the St. Dominic’s pack is definitely veteran full-forward, Naos Connaughton, who has been the best hurler in the Roscommon championship this year.
He scored a whopping 4-2 from play in the semi-final and is a likely match winner if his team-mates can feed him with enough ball on Sunday.
“He's in great form but Naos would be the first to admit that three of those four goals were handed to him,” says Beirne.
“Conal Kennelly made two for him by doing all the spadework and giving it to him on the edge of the square and the same for another by Jack Lohan.
“He won ball out the field, took them on, and fed Naos and Naos finished it. He was there on the end of them to finish them but the boys did Trojan work to create the opportunities.
“Now, look, he's a great target-man, there's no doubt about it. He'll take minding against Four Roads on Sunday, but the only thing is if they concentrate on him we have Conal Keneally, we've Colm Lyons, we've Mickey Joe Egan, lads that can do damage out the field.
“We've a good mix of a bit of size and a bit of speed and a bit of everything which is what you want in team.”
Naos Connaughton has been in fine scoring form for St. Dominic's this year.
Considering the age-profile of this St. Dominic’s team, you’d imagine a win against the head on Sunday would set them up nicely to be serial championship contenders for years to come.
“It would be massive,” says Beirne. “Unreal. It would be great for the young lads coming through to experience it, but, even if we don't win, the boys will have a taste for it after playing in their first final and they'll be hungry for more.
“If we win it then, not being cocky, but we could be on top for a good while, but we're going to be there or there abouts anyway.
“It would be great for hurling in Roscommon too because Four Roads have been dominating for the last while and are going for another three-in-a-row this year. It's no good when one team coasts every year. You want to be putting it up to them and coming with something fresh.”
