Ohe happy observer at the weekend's big shock in Tuam was Martin McDermott. Manager of Roscommon when they last beat Galway in 1990 and last won the Connacht title in 1991, McDermott hadn't arrived in Tuam with any greater sense of the impending upset than anyone else.

"Not many people would have given them a chance despite a reasonably good campaign since Christmas." he said "When the crunch match came in the League against Mayo, they didn't seem to have it and they were pretty inept against New York. The feeling was, I suppose, that there was still a bit to go. Then again, Leitrim had put three goals past Galway and maybe that was an ominous sign for them."

On the day, McDermott was impressed by the manner of Roscommon's victory rather than merely the result. In the performance he saw signs of permanent promise, not just the cranking up of team spirit for a one-off tilt against the All-Ireland finalists.

"There has been some comment that the match was about `guts' and `fire in the belly' but it was much more than that. The team was well organised, they had a plan of action, created space and played good ball in to the forwards. Nigel Dineen roasted Tomas Mannion in a way that I haven't seen for a long time and even when Mannion switched corners he found Frankie Dolan on fire."

Adding to the sense of foreboding last week was the mounting casualty list. McDermott disagreed with the suggestion his successor John Tobin may have created a smokescreen. He points out that goalkeeper Shane Curran was suspended, Don Connellan didn't play and Stephen Lohan, arguably the team's best forward, came on only in the second half - all in all, a sizeable absentee list for a county whose population guarantees a shallow pool of talent.

Further to the contemporary woes was the really poor championship record over the past two seasons. It was small wonder the team were outside bets. Tobin's role in restoring morale and varying the style of play has been acknowledged but with much the same group of players, the difference still needs explanation.

There's three things, according to McDermott. "Firstly, they've found a genuine quality midfielder in Seamus O'Neill. He's only 19 but he's a great fielder, doesn't squander the possession and kicked two great points on Sunday. Secondly, Frankie Dolan has matured into one of the best corner forwards around. With John Hanly he brings pace to the forwards. Hanly is an Ogie Moran type of player. He's not a big scorer but he uses his pace to pick up a lot of ball.

"Thirdly, Paul Noone at half back brings the same pace to the defence. He was on Michael Donnellan, who's accepted as just about the fastest Gaelic footballer there is but on Sunday he met a faster player. Noone's an athlete."

Whereas McDermott can identify the improvements in the past year, he is at a loss to explain the county's decline in fortune over the last decade. Under his management, Roscommon won back-to-back Connacht titles and came within a point of Meath in an All-Ireland semi-final during the epic 1991 season. Since then the county hasn't been back to Croke Park.

"There have been good players over the last few years and some good management. I can't put my finger on it but in smaller counties like Roscommon, success often comes in cycles."

The question of whether another fruitful cycle is upon them, he believes, requires further evidence before a full response.

"I'd like to see another display of that quality before raving about the team's prospects. In the cold light of day, Galway could have scored two or three goals but for bad shooting and the rub of the green. Only two of the starting forwards scored and I'd like to see more scores from play in the Connacht final.

"Then you have to look at Galway. The Donnellan business can't have helped over the last two or three weeks. Michael Donnellan's body language wouldn't have been positive. When Paul Noone beat him to a couple of balls, the head dropped a bit. Also they were without Derek Savage and Paul Clancy which took the sting out of it a bit."