Job done for Burke as Rossies go straight back up

Davy Burke was relieved to see his Roscommon team secure promotion back to Division 1 of the Allianz Football League after an anxious wait at the death.

The Rossies were pegged back by Westmeath at Mullingar, drawing 2-16 to 1-19 thanks to a last minute two-pointer by Kieran Martin.

It was a first point of the campaign for the Lake County, but the draw also gave Roscommon a point, which pushed them into outright second place.

"Job done, although maybe we went the roundabout way," Burke said on RTÉ's Sunday Sport.

"As a group, we weren't happy without performance last weekend. We didn't meet our standards, it's as simple as that.

"We discussed it and went through it, and I'm delighted with the reaction. We were good for 45-50 minutes today but we've more work to do, moving forward.

"We were disappointed last week, we're much happier today, and we still have plenty more to go."

It's Monaghan in the final for Roscommon, meaning the two relegated teams from the top flight in 2024 are going straight back up after only one season in the second tier.

The game will take place next weekend - likely Sunday afternoon - at Croke Park but the Rossies open their Connacht Championship bid the following Saturday away to London at Ruislip.

It leaves Burke with question marks over how he might approach the two games in seven days.

"It is difficult, we're going to have to balance it now. We picked up a few knocks today so we'll have to try balance our squad and see what we can do here.

"It's not ideal [that] it's six days later. We're happy, we've a game in Croke Park next weekend and we'll roll on.

"The new rules, we want to experience them in Croke Park. We've a lot of young players. All in all it's another top game before we head over to the Connacht Championship.

"It's not the end of the world if we didn't but it is very important to be competing at the top end of Division 2 or else Division 1 each year. You're getting exposed to higher levels of football, higher standards, bigger crowds; all that is important.

"So we're delighted to be back up."

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