Since Sligo recorded their mildly surprising victory over Roscommon at this stage a year ago, the two counties have maintained their different trajectories. A good but slightly unlucky NFL campaign saw Sligo move into Division Three while Roscommon slid into the fourth. That momentum looks like continuing tomorrow with Sligo having a more confident appearance than a Roscommon side bedraggled with injury and the advantage of a championship outing already under their belt, albeit an unimpressive win over London but the exiles have been proving truculent opposition in recent years. Team Selections:
Roscommon: D Thompson; R Owen, D Donlon, E Gavin; C Heneghan, C McDonald, M Ryan; G Keane, T Ryan; V Glennon, D Connellan, E Lohan; F Grehan, N Dineen, AN Other.
Sligo - P Kilcoyne; N Maguire, C White, M Cosgrove; D Durkin, B Kilcoyne, N Clancy; E O'Hara, P Durcan; K Killeen, D Sloyane, S Davey; B Walsh, P Taylor, G McGowan.
Team News: Sligo make a couple of changes to the side which won in London with Brendan Kilcoyne and Gerry McGowan who came on as substitutes retaining their places. Roscommon have a stack of injuries with key players Derek Duggan and Alan Nolan out, as well as doubts over Conor Connelly, Ciaran Grogan, Tommy Grehan and Sean Staunton. There is a vacancy at left corner forward which will be filled this morning.
Key Confrontation: Eamonn O'Hara has moved to centrefield from centre back, where he played in London, for Sligo. A talented footballer, good on the ball and a penetrative runner, he will be expected to make things happen for the team. The Roscommon duo of Tom Ryan and Gerry Keane - improvised in the absence of Nolan - have yet to decide who will mark O'Hara and Paul Durcan. Ryan was one of Roscommon's better players last year whereas Keane is a new recruit from the Tulsk club. Big and physical, he is less mobile than Ryan who may accordingly get the job of tracking O'Hara.
View from the camps: "The team went down last year with a lack of belief in them on the part of people in the county. This seeped into the team and the confidence wasn't there although they were six or seven points a better team on the day. We've been waiting 12 months for this. That's all you can do - wait and then do something about it." - Gay Sheerin (Roscommon manager).
"Everything is going well for us and we're quietly confident. Although the League didn't turn out that great in the end, we went up a division but really, we haven't won anything yet. If we do, there's bigger and better things ahead." - Paul Taylor (Sligo full forward).
Verdict: Sligo.
