CAREW NOT GETTING CARRIED AWAY WITH PROMOTION TALK
defender Jimmy Feehan having been sidelined in the 44th minute for a second yellow card for a foul on Niall Murphy.
Points from Marren and Kyle Cawley gave Sligo a ten points advantage( 2- 14 to 0- 10) after fifty four minutes, with the points seemingly “in the bag”.
Three Tipp points in five minutes reduced the gap but were not a real concern for Sligo but when Michael Quinlivan netted in the 64th minute, the lead was down to an unsettling four points.
A minute later, Philip Austin careered through for Tipp but his blast for a goal scraped the crossbar, much to the relief of the small Sligo contingent in the749 attendance.
Austin was injured in the process and after a considerable delay, had to be stretchered off.
The stoppage helped Sligo in that Tipp lost their momentum temporarily and with time on Sligo’s side, they opted for a keep- ball policy.
Still Tipp pushed forward. Liam Boland pointed in the 74th minute. Quinlivan missed a twenty five meter free a minute later, and then Robbie Kiely had a goal- bound effort turned out for a forty five by Sligo’s Neil Ewing.
Kevin O Halloran pointed the kick but to the relief of the travelling players, mentors and fans, that was that. Sligo claimed the points with a memorable away win.
Manager Niall Carew has to be delighted with Sligo’s start to the league campaign and will be hoping that the momentum created by these two initial outings will carry through to the remaining rounds.
Next up is Antrim, and a win here will really put the side in the driving seat for promotion.
Sunday’s win was particularly satisfying against a fancied Tipperary side buoyed up by last year’s great championship campaign which saw them reach the All- Ireland semi- final.
The challenge now for Sligo is to build on this win and on Sunday’s showing they most certainly have the quality and the appetite for the tests that lie ahead.
Essentially this was a fine team- performance and while such as Gerard O Kelly- Lynch, Neil Ewing, Mark Breheny, Adrian Marren, Ross Donovan, John Kelly and Kevin McDonnell worked their socks off, it was the attitude and commitment of all the Sligo players which carried the day.
The defeat was a big setback for Tipperary who harboured serious promotion ambitions.
For too long they were very subdued and while their late flourish will give encouragement, overall it was a poor performance. Robbie Kiely, Alan Moloney, Brian Fox, and Philip Austin were their top performers on the day.
Sligo scorers- K Cawley ( 1- 2); N Murphy( 1- 1); A Marren( 0- 4, 2fs); M Breheny( 0- 3,2fs); G O Kelly- Lynch( 0- 2), C Davey( 0- 1), A Devaney( 0- 1, f);
Tipperary scorers- M Quinlivan( 1- 2,0- 2fs), C Sweeney( 0- 5,3fs); K O Halloran( 0- 4,4fs); A Maloney( 0- 2), B Fox, L Boland, P Austin( 0- 1 each);
Sligo- Aidan Devaney; Ross Donovan, Kevin McDonnell, Noel Gaughan; Keelan Cawley, Neil Ewing, Gerard O Kelly- Lynch); Patrick O Connor, Adrian McIntyre; Criostoir Davey, Mark Breheny, John Kelly; Kyle Cawley, Adrian Marren, Niall Murphy; Subs- Eoin McHugh for Keelan Cawley( injured 31mins), Stephen Gilmartin for O Connor( 59mins); Stephen Coen for Murphy( 61mins); James Hynes for Davey( 73 mins); Enda Connolly for Donovan( injured 77mins);
Tipperary - Evan Comerford; Alan Campbell, Paddy Codd, Willie Connors; Kevin Fahey, Robbie Kiely, Jimmy Feehan; Alan Maloney, Martin Dunne; Josh Keane, Liam McGrath, Brian Fox; Conor Sweeney, Michael Quinlivan, Philip Austin; Subs- Kevin O Halloran for McGrath( H/ T); Emmet Moloney for Fahey( 49mins); Jack Kennedy for Keane, and Liam Casey for Dunne( both 57mins); Liam Boland for Austin( 68mins);
Ref- Niall Ward, Westmeath. NIALL Carew is refusing to get carried away with Sligo’s good form in the Allianz Leagues Division 3, remaining adamant that he is not thinking about promotion just yet.
Following on from last weekend’s last minute draw with Armagh, Sligo were one point winners over Tipperary at Semple Stadium on Sunday, surviving a late comeback from their opponents.
While the talk of promotion has already started in some quarters, and justifiably so given the fact that Sligo sit second in the table, Carew says he is staying focused on each game as it comes.
“I’ve said it from the start, we’ll take each game as it comes. We’ll keep all the positives going anyway and we’ll take each game as it comes at us. When it comes to the Louth game at the end then we’ll look up and see where we stand in the table,” he told The Sligo Champion.
And while Sligo’s form has been impressive so far, the boss feels they may not be getting the praise that they are due.
“I think we’re still not getting the credit we really deserve. People are saying about the Tipperary come back at the end, and then that we shouldn’t have had a penalty against Armagh. But look that suits us.
“We just have to make sure that we drive on. For me, it’s just one game at a time and we’re not looking any further than Antrim in a couple of weeks.”
As Tipp began to claw their way back into the game on Sunday, one would be forgiven for becoming concerned that Sligo might end up throwing it away.
The fact that they held on for the victory and two points is a massive positive, but it is also encouraging as Carew feels that perhaps in previous years they may not have done so.
“If you really think back to the game they didn’t carve us open. They got four long range frees which brought them back to within six points. We made changes then that probably didn’t work as well as we would have hoped.
“They got a goal then, it should have been a free out but he struck it well. We were, I suppose, under pressure for a while but other years we’d have lost that game.”
He admitted feeling relieved afterwards, although extremely pleased with his side’s performance.
“We are feeling a bit relieved to get the win. We were pretty confident though going down to Tipperary. I suppose the biggest disappointment is the two injuries we suffered. Other than that we’re very happy with how the day went.”
Keelan Cawley is looking likely to miss around four weeks with a shoulder injury sustained on Sunday, while the injury to Criostoir Davey does not appear to be as serious as Cawley’s.