By Pauric McGurn
ROSLEA manager Ciaran Murphy has called on his players to ‘knuckle down and get ready’ for the Championship, as they prepare to kick-off their bid to end their 27-year wait for the Intermediate title.
The Shamrocks had a strong league campaign to win seven of their nine games, but they left Brewster Park with a feeling of regret, after they lost the decider to their rivals Aghadrumsee.
“We didn’t play any football at all that day, we didn’t show up. It’s a blip, it can happen and we now have to knuckle down and get ready for the championship,” Roslea boss, Ciaran Murphy, said.
“We didn’t turn up. We had four times the wides that Aghadrumsee had and on another day, they will go over and we fully believe in ourselves to get it right in the championship.”
The Shamrocks, who were once serial winners of the New York Cup, are in the intermediate ranks and will face a difficult group consisting of Irvinestown, as well as Maguiresbridge and Belcoo.
Murphy feels that his squad have what it takes to compete against the best in the championship.
“Belcoo are never easy. They may have had a tough league campaign but I’m sure like ourselves they have set that to one side,” the Monaghan man said, ahead of the championship opener.
“We know how good Irvinestown are. We are well aware of the quality they have. Maguiresbridge are a testing team and they gave us a serious battle this year already in the league game.”
Roslea are backboned by the experienced Seán Quigley in nets, while sturdy defenders John Connolly and Micheál Flanagan like to get forward and transition the ball from the back.
Diarmuid McAleer and Conor Mulligan are a dominant pairing in midfield, while the focal point in the forward line is Seamus Quigley, who is assisted by Adam Treanor and Darragh Flanagan.
Murphy feels there is a good blend of experience and youth in his Shamrocks squad and he thinks that his players will take plenty of lessons from their league campaign ahead of the championship.
“Why can we not go all the way?,” the Roslea manager questioned.
“We have a really good squad here and everyone is training well. We head to Derrygonnelly to face Belcoo in the opening round and right now, we will be taking it game by game.”
Murphy also feels that the hard-working Roslea committee are well overdue some championship successful and he’s urging his players and team to leave it all on the pitch over the next few weeks.
“If I wasn’t enjoying it, I wouldn’t be here. It’s a really great club,” said the Shamrocks manager.
“Numbers are excellent at training, the players are enjoying it and the set up here is second to none, while the committee in Roslea is without a doubt the best about.”