Mike Finnerty
THE Connacht U-21 football championship final between Mayo and Roscommon has been fixed for Wednesday next (April 9) in Kiltoom at 6.30pm.
The game had been due to be played next Saturday, but with Roscommon’s senior footballers in action against Dublin in Division 2 of the National League on the same night, the U-21 decider has been moved back to avoid a clash of fixtures.
Speaking to The Mayo News last night, Mayo joint manager Pat Holmes said that his team would have preferred if the game had gone ahead next Saturday for logistical reasons. However, he was philosophical about the refixture.
“You’d prefer if it could be played on Saturday but both Mayo and Roscommon have two big league games next weekend, against Galway and Dublin, so it just wasn’t possible to have the U-21 final as well,” he said.
“The main reason we’d have preferred to have played the final on Saturday was that we’d have had lads at home at the weekend. Now we have to get them back in midweek from right around the country, from the likes of Dublin, Limerick and Templemore. It’s not ideal but it’s the same for both teams and we just have to get on with it.”
Holmes was in Hyde Park last Saturday evening to watch Roscommon book their place in the final with a 1-11 to 1-9 win over Sligo in the semi-final. The winners looked in dire trouble when Conor Devaney was sent off just before the interval as Sligo boasted a 1-7 to 0-5 lead.
But Roscommon refused to panic and their revival kicked off with a fine Enda Kenny goal on 40 minutes plus some superb free-taking by Donie Shine.
“I wasn’t surprised that Roscommon came through,” admitted Holmes. “They have eleven of the All-Ireland winning minor team, they won the Hastings Cup, and they have played a significant number of challenge games.
“We were very impressed with them,” he added. “They were five points down, had a man sent off, played against the breeze, and still came through. They’re a good side.”
U-21 captain, Chris Barrett, was unable to tog out for the Mayo seniors last weekend due to a groin problem but is expected to be fit for the U-21 final.
