Why not us?
If Jim McGuinness’ Donegal taught us anything, if Leicester City are teaching us anything, if Goran bloody Ivanisevic inspired one thing in this generation, nothing is impossible.
You don’t have to accept being second best. You don’t have to be bound by the chains of limitations. You’re allowed to dream. Sometimes, it pays off.
Roscommon have been writing their own story for a while now and yet it seems like it is only just beginning. Their rise thus far has been described as a bit of a quiet revolution. For almost a decade, they’ve been laying foundations and putting in the hard yards so that one day they might cause a rousing racket that’s upsetting the rest of the island.
Now, it is not a quiet revolution. Now, we are all listening.
The Rossies have risen but they won’t accept stopping short. You can give them all the pats on the back and the fair plays you want for two successive promotions and two back-to-back league titles but it’s not going to satisfy them. That’s not why they’re in this business – that’s not why anyone is.
Sure, in 2016, they flattered to deceive come the summer. They became the brunt of a cruel joke for the expectations former manager John Evans placed on their heads only to bow out after defeats to Sligo and Fermanagh. But they regrouped in the winter and just got on with it again. They picked themselves up. They refused to be silenced.
Kevin McStay and Fergal O’Donnell have come in and taken the project on to an entirely different level completely. Five games have passed in the top flight and only Dublin best Roscommon in Division One. Four wins on the trot with home games against the All-Ireland champions and Connacht rivals Mayo to come.
For all intents and purposes, the rebellion-turned-uprising-turned-revolution is now an all-out war. For all intents and purposes, Roscommon are declaring war on the entire island.
And it doesn’t scare them. Not one bit.
Their 1-19 to 0-17 victory over Donegal on Sunday typified that. Cathal Cregg typified that.
The Rossies stormed into Letterkenny with no fear. They went in there without even respect for where they were, for who they were playing. They had respect only for their own talent and the work they’ve put in to get here. They’re sick of watching on and lauding others. At some point or another, the underdog has to bite.
At some point or another, you have to take a shot yourself. And, Jesus, they’re going at it all guns blazing.
Niall Daly is nothing short of a warrior. His courage and conviction and his downright fearlessness is helping set the tone of these ambushes.
Fintan Cregg and Ciaran Murtagh are running bloody riot and Cathal Cregg’s power, his frightening one-track directness and his clinical accuracy is scorching the plains of GAA fields up and down the country.
The Western Gaels man led from the front in Donegal just like Murtagh did against Cork. Amidst a blanket defence, in the middle of a laboured attack that had slowed right down and began to move laterally and backwards, Cregg took the size five and burst straight through the middle of a defence that would have once argued the ball back off of the best forwards in the land.
The number 15 went straight for the jugular, he injected pure power, explosiveness, daring skill and hammered a beauty into the back of the Donegal net when Rory Gallagher and his men probably thought they had the Roscommon attack right where they wanted them.
It was a complete lack of fear. A distinct lack of respect for reputation or history. It was homage only to Roscommon. It was a battle cry. A message that they shouldn’t sit back in awe. They should go at these teams because they can. Because they’re good enough.
Why not us?
This wasn’t just a good goal or a triumph for direct running. It wasn’t a lesson in adventure or in the boldness of an attacker actually unafraid to lose possession in the hope that something might come out of it.
This was the moment that the rest of us realised it wasn’t just an inspiring underdog story anymore and that these lads actually mean business. This was a sobering realisation that the Rossies are a serious prospect who have heart and hunger to go with pure talent and direction.
It was the moment that maybe their neighbours on the west coast sat up and took notice that Connacht should no longer be taken for granted.
It was the moment that Roscommon declared war on the rest of the country.
And, by the looks of things, they’re ready for it.
