Roscommon manager John Evans is in no doubt that his players believed the hype surrounding their Connacht SFC semi-final clash against Sligo.

A highly fancied Roscommon side were tipped by many to reach this year's provincial final and indeed there was a great deal of support for them in winning it!

However, Sligo produced a workmanlike performance to record a relatively comfortable victory and Evans stated in the Roscommon Herald that being successful earlier in the year was a setback for them.

"Sligo were by far the hungrier team, there's no doubt about that. As I said to our own lads in the dressingroom, we tried to hide the fact that we had two cups (FBD League and Division Two League) in the bag," said Evans.

"I suppose we tried to hide the cups and the bag to soften the blow. We were put up on a bit of a mantle to be taken down. But full credit to Sligo, they had us in all departments. The big factor was their hunger. They hadn't been fed in a long, long time.

"It does get through to the players. What do you do when you have success? You win a couple of finals and a couple of trophies, and it puts you up on a pedestal. You try to mind the players from that.

"We did actually put the cups away. We put them into a bag and we didn't go near them but that still doesn't give you the cutting edge."

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