There were dramatic developments in two counties late last night with the announcement that John Maughan and his selectors had stepped down from the management of the Roscommon footballers and speculation that David Fitzgerald had retired from inter-county hurling with Clare.

Whereas Maughan's departure comes after a series of poor results in this season's NFL, Fitzgerald had only recently returned to the Clare panel after opting out of last season.

Asked about Fitzgerald's rumoured retirement, Clare manager Michael McNamara said: "I can't comment on that at the moment. All I can say is that we've a panel of 33 and there were 32 there tonight."

Nonetheless, a source close to the player confirmed that he had indeed retired.

Meanwhile, in a statement last night the Roscommon county board said that it was "with regret" that the resignation of Maughan and his selectors Eamon McManus and Gerry Fitzmaurice had been accepted.

Praising the outgoing manager's efforts the statement said that Maughan had "worked tremendously hard to restore the fortunes of Roscommon football" and had "helped to restore pride in and respect for Roscommon football".

It also said that selectors McManus and Fitzmaurice "represent all that is good in the GAA in Roscommon and their contribution at senior level will be greatly missed".

The board also condemned "the personal abuse that John Maughan, his selectors and their families have been subjected to in the recent past. The instigators of this abuse do not represent the genuine Roscommon supporter and are not welcome as Roscommon supporters at our games."

The county board will now try and install an interim management to take charge of the team for the remainder of the league and this year's championship.

One obvious candidate in the longer term is Fergal O'Donnell who led the county minors to All-Ireland success two years ago.