"Performance is important” - Fergal O’Donnell
Wednesday, 28 July 2010
Fergal O'Connor giving his instructions during the Connacht final at Castlebar
ROSCOMMON manager Fergal O'Donnell did not get much time to dwell on Roscommon's Connacht championship success, as he was well aware that Roscommon would be in championship action in two weeks.
Now that the venue and more importantly the opposition is known for such an important game, the main focus is getting the team right. On Monday afternoon, following the official confirmation that it would be Cork in Croke Park on Sunday, he took a few minutes to talk about the upcoming All-Ireland quarter final and to talk about the day itself.
John Mulligan: Fergal, First of all your reaction to the draw. It's Cork, Its Sunday at 2pm. What are your thoughts on it?
Fergal O'Donnell: It's a tough draw but there was never going to be an easy draw when you got to this stage and I suppose the general consensus would be that we would be the easy draw for everyone else. But, we are not worried about that. We are really looking forward to the game. We were waiting to see whom we were playing. We know that now and we just want to get up there and hopefully the lads will give a great performance.
JM: Is there a sense of excitement among the panel now? You are in an All-Ireland quarter final, there are only eight teams left in the country and considering the year that you had, this is really showing that the lads are committed, they are dedicated and they showed it against Sligo. Is it the case of going up, giving the performance and enjoying the occasion?
F O'D: Listen, We are not going up there to make up the numbers either. We don't want them to freeze or anything like that. We want them to enjoy the build up to it but we would be looking for a big performance from the lads and considering the league we didn't think that we would be in this position but saying that, it shows that it is all about the championship. That is what really counts at the end of the day and I suppose the biggest thing for ourselves is that it is great to be there.
JM: I suppose it was easy to get everybody focused following the Connacht final. How has everything gone in the last two week?
F O'D: Things have been fine. There was great excitement around the panel and around the county with the win. I suppose in one way, you would have liked another week just to get the lads ready because it is coming very quick on top of the Connacht final. You don't have much time to get ready. Then not knowing who you were playing until last Sunday and not knowing when until today. It is a short build up but saying that, the lads are ready. They don't want to be any other place. It's a great opportunity but we knew ourselves that the best opportunity to make the quarter final was by winning the provincial and the toughest draw possible would have been losing the provincial as you saw with Monaghan and Sligo. It would be very hard to recover from that. But we know that we are going in as underdogs. At the start of the year Cork were All-Ireland favourites and they are probably coming in a similar route that Kerry did last year but we are not worried about that. Everything will be difficult at this stage.
JM: Was that an advantage in one way? Roscommon had two weeks since the Connacht final and it is very easy to keep guys focused. The players knew what they did against Sligo and they produced one of the fine performances of the year. They must be biting to go at this stage.
F O'D: They are looking forward to going. I suppose the one thing was that there wasn't much before the (Sligo) game. Obviously some of the comments from the weekend that they are going to be fodder for Cork. Hopefully that will give the lads incentive that they will give it their all on Sunday.
JM: Do you think that there has been some interest from the national media but now that it is cork that Roscommon are going in under the radar again. Is that a fair comment?
F O'D: Cork are league champions and were All-Ireland finalists last year. They are playing a division four team. Lets call a spade a spade. That is the general consensus. They will be expecting Cork to win but we are going to be doing our best that hopefully that doesn't happen.
JM: How about injuries? There was a lot of talk during the week about Geoffrey Claffey but he seems to be responding to treatment.
F O'D: He has responded well to treatment. He hurt his knee but we are happy enough with treatment. David O'Gara picked up a bit of a knock as well but hopefully he will be ok. We are hoping to have a full deck to pick from.
JM: Just a word about the supporters. They will be travelling in their thousands to Croke Park on Sunday. That must be very heartening as well for the team that you have so much support behind you.
F O'D: Roscommon always has great support as I have always said. You saw it in the Under 21 championship in Sligo and in the All-Ireland semi-final. So we just hope that we can give them something to shout about and I hope that they enjoy the day. It is not everyday we are in Croke Park so it is important that we give them a performance that they can enjoy.
JM: Finally, dare I ask the question that this is a game that Roscommon can win?
F'OD: Listen John I am not going to say. You know the way I am about this. If things go to plan and we can upset Cork we have got a chance. It will be fifteen against fifteen so why can't we?
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