Saturday was probably one of the games of the year so far for entertainment value. Emphasis from both sides very much on attack, and that probably at the expense of defence. Although we were beaten, Saturday was far from a disaster for us in that we went toe-to-toe with a team who are further up the rankings and gave quite a good account of ourself, playing some nice football into the bargain. I'll have to confess that making the Super 8s would have been something I would have been a bit nervous about - I think we'd have been really up against it, particularly given our recent run of hard fought games in very high temperatures.
I thought Roscommon were the better team - they seemed to last the pace that wee bit better and had a stronger bench which helped in the hot conditions, and I thought our recent matches - particularly the Clare game - may have impacted on our lads. Some of our attacking play and point taking in the first half was top drawer stuff, but we missed some big scores at crucial times and when we run out of steam, Roscommon stretched the lead to six points which I thought was a wee bit harsh.
Many have talked here about the players dying with their boots on and that makes me laugh a wee bit because it is so on the money. The players left it all out there on the pitch. I've often said that I'll be happy if our players play with spirit, determination and pride in the jersey and Saturday was just that - indeed it was a continuation of the Clare game in that respect. They gave it their all and as a supporter you cannot ask for much more.
2018 is over, and of course there have been ups and downs. We got promoted and went up as Champions. We had a disaster in Enniskillen in the first round of the Championship, but to be fair, the players and management regrouped and went on a qualifier run that brought us to the last twelve and that run was marked by a great attitude and playing some lovely attacking football. It wasn't perfect of course - there were a lot of individual errors across the games, but nevertheless there was a sense of positivity and energy around the thing.
I think we can now look forward to 2019 with renewed enthusiasm. We have blooded some good new and young players and if we can get some of our absentees back, then we should hopefully be able to hold our own in Division 2 and of course with playing at a higher level it might be possible to aim to reach the last eight tis time next year.
Onwards and upwards!