Noel Dunning was immensely happy with his Roscommon U20 side’s victory over Leitrim, booking a place in the Connacht final.
Roscommon scored an impressive 3-16 to 2-6 in Ballinamore. The victory was enough to secure not just a place in the knockout stages. Also bettering Galway’s score difference to top the group and make the final automatically.
“We came down here just hoping to get a win on anything else that happened after that was outside of our control” explained Roscommon boss Noel Dunning.
“There was nothing we could do about it. So we did our bit” declared Dunning. “The performance, I suppose, we gave we probably deserved to be in a kind of final on the back of it”.
Indeed, Dunning praised the grit his side showed in making their way through to the Connacht final. Where they will meet Galway or Sligo on May fourth.
“We give Leitrim all the respect they deserve because they've had a very good U20 championship” explained Dunning.
“They've had some good results. You know, they went down to Markievicz and they drew with Sligo the same as we did”.
“They probably should have won that game. They beat Mayo. So we gave them all the respect they deserve”.
Big challenge in away derby game
“We knew coming down here we were going to be coming up against number one, a big crowd, because we knew that there was a bit of”.
“The noisy neighbours and all that kind of stuff like, you know” added Dunning. “So we weren't taking the challenge of Leitrim lightly at all”.
“They're well coached, they have some exceptional players there and the likes of Paul Honeyman and McNulty and a few more of them. Ben and guys like this, you know they're going to be Leitrim senior footballers for a long time to come”.
“So we gave them all the respect they deserve. We got our match ups right” added Dunning.
“We knew what was coming and we just had to try and rise above that and in fairness, our intensity showed”.
📹 MATCH HIGHLIGHTS@RoscommonGAA produce a devastating display against @LeitrimGAA in Ballinamore to reach the Connacht U20 Final! #ConnachtGAA pic.twitter.com/ACtwL54AVE
— Connacht GAA (@ConnachtGAA) April 17, 2024
However, Dunning was playing down the effect of progressing straight through to the final.
“We'll get to see the semi-final. But who knows what way that works out because they benefit from an extra-game. We've a two week break, so it remains to be seen in whose favour that works”.
