Championship 2014: Roscommon

Manager: John Evans (2nd season).Titles: Connacht 21 (2010); All-Ireland 2 (1944).2014 league: Won six, lost one in Division Three to finish 2nd. Promoted and Division winners.Odds and Ends: All-Ireland 80/1; Connacht 6/1.Bookies say: Connacht semi-final, exit qualifier R3.Bookies said in 2013: Connacht semi-final, exit qualifier R3.2013 championship: Lost Connacht semi-final to Mayo 0-9 to 0-21; Lost R2 qualifier to Tyrone 1-7 to 0-12.First outing: v Leitrim, Hyde Park, 18th May.

Roscommon’s Kevin Higgins tries to shrug off Leitrim’s Wayne McKeon
Roscommon’s Kevin Higgins tries to shrug off Leitrim’s Wayne McKeon

Happy the man who can get promotion wrapped up early and start knuckling down for the summer. Roscommon were done with Division Three two games out and, by manager John Evans’s own testimony, the rod hasn’t been spared on them since. A league title in the bag and the under-21s to come back - these are all good portents. It’s unlikely that Mayo will teeter in Connacht but if they do, the Rossies are best-placed to topple them.


Last good day: Connacht title in 2010.