Roscommon full back John McManus says Kevin McStay’s side are determined to prolong their summer dream, having already achieved the goal of becoming Connacht champions.
The Roscommon Gaels club man, whose father is former Roscommon great and six-time Connacht champion, Tony, has been a steadying influence on his side in the No 3 shirt this season, and says facing their great rivals Mayo won’t concern them too much.
It’s 16 years since Roscommon last beat Mayo in championship football, and Stephen Rochford’s side have beaten them soundly in their last two league meetings. But McManus hopes to erase those form lines this Sunday.
“Winning the Connacht title was enjoyable at the time but we can celebrate that a bit more when the year is out. The team is very ambitious and focused,” said 24-year-old McManus.
“There’s no such thing that this is bonus territory for us, we want to keep going further. We will be very disappointed at whatever stage we get knocked out of the championship.
“We won’t be falling back and saying: ‘Ah sure, we won the Connacht final,’ we’re just mad to progress even further.”
Recent outings in Croke Park have not been kind to McManus and Roscommon though. He had plenty of success in his early years and had three outings there with the Roscommon minors of 2011, but last year’s league semi-final hammering at the hands of Kerry and this year’s Division One defeat to Dublin were sour on the palate.
“I can’t wait. This will be my fifth time playing in Croke Park but never on such a big occasion.
“There has always been this talk about all the Roscommon teams that had done well underage, but the best thing we’ve taken from those underage days is that we’re used to beating the big teams and we’re used to getting to the latter end of the championship. I know it’s a different kettle of fish in senior football but the mindset is still the same.
Good start
“I wouldn’t have any fear of going out and playing Mayo because I’ve played them at underage and we’ve beaten them. We feel we’re capable of beating the top teams.
“Mayo will think they can steamroll us because of the way their games against Roscommon have gone in the last few years. They’ll expect that if they get a good start they’ll ease through the game and win it comfortably.
“But if we can get a good early start it’ll plant doubt in their minds. It might even have a negative impact on their fans and would also produce positive energy in the Roscommon fans. A good early start is key for us again next Sunday.”
McManus and his team-mates were not at the Gaelic Grounds last Saturday to inspect this weekend’s likely opponents due to team meetings and training.
But he says he was not perturbed by not knowing the identity of their opponents for the two weeks after their Connacht final romp against Galway. They did their celebrating and then got back to work straight away.
“We had an open mind on who we were going to be meeting. We couldn’t really predict how it was going to go. A lot of people would have predicted Mayo to beat Cork, but I expected Cork to give them the game they did.
“I actually preferred not knowing our opponents because when you go out training you are focused on yourself, and you’re not focusing on anyone else. Sometimes you can know who you are playing months in advance and you forget about planning for your own game. It’s been enjoyable to be able to go out and train without planning on how to counteract another team’s tactics.
“After winning the Connacht final there was this natural buzz and euphoria which surrounds a dressing-room. The confidence levels of lads have just risen. It’s not just because of winning the Connacht final, it’s also breaking that barrier of beating the big two in Connacht. Lads are now exuding confidence out on the training pitch.”
