The match is live on Newstalk. Dave McIntyre will be commentating, with Michael Meehan and Liam McHale alongside him. Colm Parkinson is our sideline reporter!
Connacht SFC Semi-Final - Dr. Hyde Park, 2pm, 8th June, Referee: Eddie Kinsella
2014 to date
Roscommon have had a fantastic start to 2014 on a number of fronts. They were promoted to Division 2, winning the league final against Cavan in Croke Park. At the same time their talented u21s, who played sporadically for the seniors throughout the league, reached the All-Ireland final for the second time in three years.
Mayo also had a positive league campaign, where they gave a number of talented younger players vital experience.
After suffering back-to-back All-Ireland defeats, James Horan knew he add to inject something different into the side, bringing the recently retired Connacht and Ireland Rugby International Gavin Duffy to their roster may prove to be a masterstroke.
They were just a point off Dublin last September and a league semi-final and opening championship win over New York seems to have banished any potential hangover.
2014 Stats
2013 Championship
2013 was a fragmented year for Roscommon. In John Evans’ first year in charge they were without their St. Brigid’s contingent for much of the league as they won the club All-Ireland. In the championship they played two games and lost two games, albeit both against All-Ireland contenders. In truth, they failed to perform adequately apart from their second half comeback against Tyrone - they failed to play at all in their 12 point defeat to Mayo.
After losing the 2012 All-Ireland final to Donegal by four points, Mayo’s 2013 charge to the All-Ireland final was kickstarted by their Connacht Championship campaign - they blew Galway away in the quarter-finals, winning by 17, before beating Roscommon by 12, and brushing London aside by 16. In the All-Ireland quarter-finals they simply destroyed Donegal, beating them by 16. In the semi-finals they beat Tyrone by 6, pulling away in the second half. Before falling just short once again in the All-Ireland final, losing to Dublin by a point.
Roscommon - Played 2 - W0 - L2
Connacht - Roscommon 0-09 0-21 Mayo
Qualifiers Rd 2 - Roscommon 1-07 0-12 Tyrone
Mayo - Played 6 - W5 - L1
Connacht quarter-final - Mayo 4-16 0-11 Galway
Connacht semi-final - Mayo 0-21 0-09 Roscommon
Connacht final - Mayo 5-11 0-10 London
All-Ireland quarter-final - Mayo 4-17 1-10 Donegal
All-Ireland semi-final - Mayo 1-16 0-13 Tyrone
All-Ireland final - Mayo 1-14 2-12 Dublin
Team News
John Evans chose not to include any of the u21 All-Ireland runners-up in his Championship side against Leitrim, keeping with pretty much the same fifteen who won the league final. It seems he’s sticking with that fifteen once more with just one change being made; St. Brigid’s clubman Ian Kilbride coming into the half-back line to replace the injured David Keenan.
Roscommon: Darren O’Malley; Seanie McDermott, Niall Carty (C), Neil Collins; Ian Kilbride, Niall Daly, Ciaran Cafferky; Cathal Shine, Kevin Higgins; David O’Gara, Donal Shine, Ronan Stack; Ciaran Murtagh, Cathal Cregg, Senan Kilbride.
For Mayo, Jason Gibbons is out with an ankle injury, while Barry Moran has just returned to training, the O’Shea brothers will still provide a very mean midfield pairing however. There's no place for Andy Moran in the starting fifteen, and Conor O'Shea, the younger brother of Seamie and Aidan has been handed the number 11 jersey for his Championship debut.
Mayo: Robert Hennelly, Tom Cunniffe, Ger Cafferkey, Keith Higgins; Lee Keegan, Colm Boyle, Donal Vaughan; Seamus O’Shea, Aidan O’Shea; Diarmuid O’Connor, Conor O’Shea, Jason Doherty; Kevin McLoughlin, Alan Freeman, Cillian O’Connor
Recent History
Roscommon have beaten Mayo just once in their 10 Championship meetings since 1995, winning the 2001 Connacht final by a point. Mayo’s average winning margin against Roscommon over that period have been 8.6 points, with Roscommon suffering their heaviest defeats in 2013 (12 points) and 2009 (20 points).
Since Roscommon won the minor All-Ireland in 2006, they’ve appeared in 13 of the 15 Connacht finals at minor and u21 level, winning 5, each of which have arrived since their last Senior Connacht title in 2010.
Starting XV in the 2011 Connacht Final - Mayo 0-13 0-11 Roscommon
Mayo: R Hennelly; K Higgins, A Feeney, T Cunniffe; R Feeney, D Vaughan, T Mortimer; A O’Shea, S O’Shea; K McLoughlin, A Dillon, A Moran; C O’Connor, A Freeman, J Doherty.
Roscommon: G Claffey; S McDermott, N Carty, S Purcell; D Keenan, P Domican, D Ward; M Finneran, K Mannion; S O’Grady, K Higgins, C Cregg; C Devaney, S Kilbride, D Shine.
Roscommon Mayo Championship record - Last 10
Played 10 - Mayo won 9 - Roscommon won 1
3 x Connacht Finals - Mayo won 2 (04, 11), Roscommon won 1 (01)
6 x Connacht semi-finals - Mayo won 6
1 x AIQ round 2 - Mayo won
Average Mayo Winning Margin - 8.6 (heaviest defeats; 2013, 2009)
2013: Mayo 0-21 0-09 Roscommon (Connacht semi-final)
2011: Mayo 0-13 0-11 Roscommon (Connacht final)
2009: Mayo 3-18 0-07 Roscommon (Connacht semi-final)
2005: Mayo 1-16 0-11 Roscommon (Connacht semi-final)
2004: Mayo 2-13 0-09 Roscommon (Connacht final)
2002: Mayo 0-20 2-08 Roscommon (AIQ 2nd round)
2001: Roscommon 2-10 1-12 Mayo (Connacht final)
1999: Mayo 0-21 0-10 Roscommon (Connacht semi-final)
1996: Mayo 0-14 0-10 Roscommon (Connacht semi-final)
1995: Mayo 2-11 1-10 Roscommon (Connacht semi-final)
Talking Points
1) Mayo showed they had no hangover from their 2012 All-Ireland defeat during their Connacht campaign last year, can they lay down a marker for this year once more and go that step further, or can Roscommon, who have been on a definite upward curve, highlight some sort of mental of physical fatigue in this Mayo side and beat them.
2) Roscommon football have got something right over the past few years, delivering year-in-year-out at underage level. While the senior side haven't beaten Mayo or Galway since 2001, the younger players have been beating them in Connacht for a decade now. The u21s met in March in the Connacht Championship, with Roscommon winning by 4-10 to 1-08.
So...does this Roscommon side know how to win?
The winners will face Galway or Sligo on July 13th in the Connacht SFC final
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
