Cummins says team deserve huge credit
ALTHOUGH the defeat is still raw following Saturday’s narrow defeat to Derry, Sligo manager David Cummins said that the future is bright for these groups of players. He told the Sligo Champion that the huge sacrifices the players put in their training and commitment is being seen on the playing pitch with Sligo giving topclass opponents like Derry some big tests.
“It is still raw but I am delighted for the guys with how they performed, they will look back on the game in the months to come and say we can play at that level. When you look at the U21s too this year and the Minors the last couple of years, they will be adding to our senior team down the line.
“I think the future is very bright for these players. They have made huge sacrifices and that has been seen on the playing pitch. Their commitment is huge in terms training, diet, social life and we know we can get results.
“I’m delighted for the guys because it was a cracker of a game against top-class opposition. We came into this game with only one win in the Championship, we were against an Ulster team who had won three games in Ulster and now there are two Ulster teams in the semi-final, so they were top-class.”
David said the lads put in a performance that deserved huge credit. “I’m delighted the lads have a game like this on their CV. I know it’s not the result that we wanted and I suppose if we were going to play the last few minutes over again, we could see what we could have done differently. “Experience is a word that people use a lot but the experience the lads will have gained from a game like that is massive.” He said Sligo coming back from three points down and equalising was something they are capable of doing. “I expect them to do that because they are a great group of players. They are a fantastic group of winners and fighters and will learn from this.” He said it wasn’t about individual performers but the team as a whole and how they worked together. “I was delighted for Red Óg to score 11 points, in a few of our games this year he’s been scoring eight, he’s been like that week in week out in training too. I also thought Brian Cox, Evan Lavin, Luke Towey and our captain Barry Gorman were outstanding. Luke was very strong in his running and winning frees. We know we can play top-class teams.”