‘We have to find a week just to give the last 12 teams a chance’ – Roscommon boss Davy Burke rues short turnaround

Roscommon manager Davy Burke has called on the GAA to either scrap the preliminary All-Ireland quarter-finals or give teams an extra week to prepare for their quarter-final appearance.

The Connacht side became the latest team to fall at the last eight stage of the championship after being obliged to play three key games in two weeks.

"We need to find a week somewhere to give us a chance. Even though I felt we had a chance, don't get me wrong. But just the way the game transpired and went away from us.

“We have to find a week. It's only a week, just to give the last 12 teams a chance. Or else do away with the last-12, one or the other,” he suggested.

Roscommon difficulties were compounded when David Murray and Ultan Harney retired injured in the first 15 minutes. Then then they were reduced to 14 men when Ruaidhri Fallon picked up a second yellow card before half time.

And just to compound their misery they gifted wrapped Armagh a goal from a re-start which effectively decided the outcome with 20 minutes remaining.

"You couldn't dream of that kind of horror script. David Murray and Ultan Harney gone after 15 minutes. I have no problem saying that David Murray is a Roscommon legend. He's so central to our defence.

“And then Ruaidhrí (Fallon) gone on a red before half-time, on the back of three weeks in a row, and Armagh are a good side. They're very conditioned."

Burke said he was delighted that Roscommon were only two points down at the break.

“I thought we stuck in there well. The red card was never going to make a difference in that type of cagey game. We were unbelievably relaxed (at half time). The red card was no issue."

“Being a man down after playing three weeks in a row probably wasn't ideal. But in that game, 14 against 15 was never going to be a factor. We were never worried about that and we came out and kicked the first two scores in the second half."

Squandered scoring chances ultimately betrayed Roscommon’s hopes as Burke acknowledged.

"The balls into the goalie's hands continued in the second half. We had a good day last week and our efficiency was very high. It was very low today. Very poor. In fairness, our forwards have been very good all year. They just didn't click today."

Diarmuid (Murtagh), Daire (Cregg), Conor (Cox) missing 21-yard shots, top of the D, no pressure on them, that's nothing to do with Armagh. Is it the legs catching up on them? Is it the intensity? Is it the emotion? Whatever it was, it just didn't go for them. But those three boys have been awesome."

He acknowledged that Armagh’s second goal killed their chances.

“A short kick-out in the wet weather. In fairness to Niall Higgins, he did his best one of them got a hand to it, flicked the ball out and fair play to Conor Turbitt. It was a brilliant finish, and it turned the game. If we didn't concede that goal, it was going to the wire. It was going to the absolute wire, as we expected it to. Ultimately their conditioning took over and that was it."

“At half-time, you wouldn't believe how calm we were. We felt we were going to win the game, no doubt. Being a man down didn't bother us at all. We came out and showed that, but we were just hit by a sucker and it was our own fault. That settled the game. We're All-Ireland quarter-finalists. We want to be better than that. We want to be semi-finalists. We're not now and that's it."

He acknowledged that playing three times on the spin and then coping with the being down a man did take its toll in the end.

“We knew Armagh were going to be more physical than us and we thought we'd play through them and around them. And I think we did. We just didn't execute it. If you give Diarmuid Murtagh or Daire Cregg that game back, I'd say they'd kick six or seven points. They didn't, so, whatever. But when you're a man down for 40 minutes and you're playing three weeks in a row, of course the conditioning is going to take over."

Asked whether he wanted to stay in charge next year he said.

"Absolutely. How could you not want to work with Brian Stack and the likes of that? What a second-half performance by him."

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