Dublin v Roscommon: Not quite the same as it used to be

Sure, I'm as patriotic as the next girl and I love to support the Dubs, but...

It used to be that the prospect of Dublin playing Roscommon in the championship would fill me with a sense of dread. Not now. For the Rossies once had a team that could, on their day, mix it with the very best and give anyone the fright of their lives.

From hounding Micko to hanging on for dear life
In the Noughties, when Mickey Harte was still in charge of Tyrone, he used to bemoan the treatment some of his team got from their Roscommon opponents. "They hounded us from pillar to post," he'd wail.

There's nothing wrong with physicality in GAA but there's a line you shouldn't cross. The Rossies had a reputation for being too physical, even dirty.

But I remember an even more unsavoury incident involving Roscommon. It was in Dr Hyde Park in 2010, a qualifier round against Leitrim.

Shining a light on home truths
Leitrim were a poor team at the time, probably still are, so the game was a mismatch. At one stage in the second half, Leitrim had a man sent off. Down to 14 men, Roscommon should have seen the game out but they didn't.

Michael Finneran was in charge of Leitrim that day. In the RTE commentary box, he alluded to the fact he'd heard sledging coming from the Roscommon bench.

"Remember lads, you're only as good as your last game," was one of the choice insults that were apparently being hurled across the whitewash.

RTE were slow to act. It wasn't until after the match that they decided to show the Roscommon bench on camera. Their smirking faces said it all.

I was disgusted.
Here was a Roscommon team that had been competitive in Connacht for years, had beaten some of the top teams in the country, yet they couldn't resist resorting to cheap tactics against an outclassed opponent.

In the years since, Roscommon have dropped down the pecking order. No longer do they strike fear into the hearts of teams like Dublin. Instead, teams like Dublin now rack up big scores against them and see them as nothing more than a stepping stone to the next round.

Echoes of a bygone era
It's a sad decline but it's also a reality. The Rossies are no longer the force they once were.

Still, there are times when I reminisce about the old days, when Roscommon were competitive and Dublin had to be at their best to beat them.

One memory that always comes to mind is a league game in Hyde Park in the early 2000s. It was a cold, wet night and the pitch was heavy.

Dublin were 11 points up at half-time but Roscommon came roaring back in the second half. They got the gap down to three points and had a chance to level it in the dying minutes.

The free was right in front of the posts. The Roscommon full-forward, Frankie Dolan, was standing over it. He was one of the best free-takers in the country at the time.

But he missed. Wide.

Dublin won the game by three points.

I remember thinking at the time that if Roscommon had gotten the free, they would have won. Dolan was almost automatic from that range.

But it wasn't to be. Dublin held on for dear life and won.

That was the last time I saw Roscommon get close to beating Dublin. It's been all downhill for them since then.

The future
Roscommon are still a proud county and they have a lot of talented players. But they need to find a way to rediscover their old swagger. They need to find a way to play with the same physicality and intensity that they once had.

If they can do that, they can still be a force in Connacht. They can still give Dublin a run for their money.

But for now, they are a shadow of their former selves. And that's a shame.