Cunningham leads heroic Rossies to glory on terrible day for Galway

Inside Track with John McIntyre

IT was difficult not to wonder what Anthony Cunningham had let himself in for after the Connacht Club football semi-final at Hyde Park last November. Roscommon champions Clan na nGael had just been beaten out the gate – 4-22 to 0-7 – by a rampant Corofin outfit in one of the most one-sided matches imaginable.

Cunningham was at the semi-final having just been appointed the Roscommon team manager. It was a left-field development even allowing for his success at club level with St Brigid’s (Roscommon) and Garrycastle of Westmeath. Last year he served as Dublin hurling coach and when Pat Gilroy stepped down as manager, Cunningham was on the short list to succeed him.

Ultimately, Dublin opted for another Galway native, Mattie Kenny, who had enjoyed historic success up there with Cuala, leading to widespread speculation that Roscommon had got their new manager on the rebound. Whatever the background to Cunningham taking up his new post, the appointment was vindicated in no uncertain terms at Pearse Stadium last Sunday.

His managerial stock and reputation have been restored to a level when guiding Galway hurlers to two All-Ireland finals in 2012 and ’15. Both of those campaigns ended in defeat to Kilkenny, the latter one sparking a players’ revolt which ultimately led to Cunningham stepping down. There was a lot of sympathy for him and it was a fraught time for the sport locally.

Cunningham didn’t go quietly or quickly and delivered a few departing volleys about ‘kangaroo courts’ and the like. It was an indication of his inner steel and tenacity, and those qualities have clearly served him well in reviving the fortunes of a Roscommon football team which was taken apart in the Super 8s in 2018.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.

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