SLIGO, GO, GO

Boss Mcentee delighted county warm-up games will be played

SLIGO boss Tony Mcentee has welcomed the reinstatement of January’s pre-season competitions.

The Fixture Review Task Force recommended their abolishment in 2019 and, while they weren’t played this year due to the time constraints imposed by the pandemic, the GAA took the view they shouldn’t take place in 2022 either.

However, amid the expectation that teams would play challenge matches, it was felt that putting a competition structure around that would be more in counties’ interests.

The FBD League, Mckenna, O’byrne and Mcgrath Cups in football will now get underway on the weekend of January 1/2 along with the Munster SHL, Walsh and Kehoe Cups in hurling.

The Allianz Football League is due to start on the weekend of January 29/30, with the hurling equivalent throwing in the following weekend.

Mcentee is entering his second year in charge of Sligo but only had five games in 2021, one of which was a one-off Division Four Shield final.

With that in mind, he’s welcoming the opportunity to run the rule over his squad in the FBD League.

He said: “It’s great that we have the opportunity to play games, challenge games, League games, whatever it turns out to be – in this case, organised structured games.

“We have a number of new players, we’re looking forward to a new year and I suppose, off the back of last year, the more games we have the better. It’s great we get seven in the League this year and if we can get one two or three extra through the FBD then I think it’ll only benefit us so I’m all for it.”

The last time the FBD League was staged in 2020 it was played on a knockout basis, a format which Mcentee expects will apply again.

He added: “There are only three weekends available so with that sort of timeline I think it’s inevitable it’ll have to be a knockout competition. Whether it’s knockout or not, it’s still games and it’s well intentioned.”

The former Armagh star has suffered some defections, among them former AFL recruit Red Og Murphy (inset) who is concentrating on his studies.

But he has 12 newcomers on board who he’s looking forward to starting work with from December 8, when collective inter-county training resumes.

He said: “They are extremely positive, looking forward to playing with Sligo, to getting a chance at county football, to testing themselves against maybe better opposition than in the club.

“I’m looking at it as a very positive move and I think when you have a team like Sligo that sits in Division Four, to have so many people who want to play for Sligo is actually something that should be encouraged and highlighted rather than looking at fellas who, for good reasons, want to step away.

“I’m very comfortable with decisions that people have made and I’m very comfortable that we have a new bunch of players coming in to try and progress things for Sligo.”