Sligo’s NY mission is simple: Go there and get a worry-free win

Tony McEntee’s men want to avoid a slip-up against underdogs New York

IT REALLY doesn’t matter what the winning margin is – one point or 17 – once Sligo win this Sunday at New York’s Gaelic Park.

This will be the fifth time that a Sligo team has had the privilege – or chore – of commencing its Connacht GAA Senior Football Championship in ‘The City That Never Sleeps’. Thoughts of facing the unknown quantity that is New York could prompt some sleepless nights as there really is nothing to go on. They’ve no Allianz Football League form and their playing resources vary from season to season.

The only consistent factors for Connacht teams heading over there are the potentially for sticky temperatures, the all-weather pitch and the fans having a good jolly, especially those supporters who head over for a few days in the Big Apple.

Sligo’s previous four visits – all quarter-final victories – yielded a total of 100 points, an average of 25 points per game.

With just 42 points conceded (10.5 points per fixture, on average) the stats add up to another Sligo win. These expectations aren’t without basis – Sligo had a reasonable Allianz Football League, with five wins (from seven games) and they came close to beating both of the promoted sides, Tipperary and Cavan.

Sean Carrabine has been brilliant all year, Patrick O’Connor has been close to his best form and Niall Murphy should be back after injury.

The unknown potential of the New York panel, which has Sligo natives Colin Keane, Paul Kelly, Stephen Curley and Vinny Cadden, is something that Sligo boss Tony McEntee won’t be taking for granted.

“We’ve looked at things like the dimensions of the New York pitch and how close the fans are to it.

“We expect that it will be a full house and, going by the weather forecast, we

don’t see the temperature as being an issue,” McEntee stated.

“There is also the factor that everyone – aside from us – who are going to New York for the game are going there for the craic, a bit of fun and to meet any friends and family who are over there.

“We have to try to adjust to that and be in the right mindset for a game that we need to win.”

Incidentally, New York’s manager Johnny McGeeney is also from Armagh. This will be New York’s first championship game since 2019. There has been a drive by New York GAA to have native-born players in the panel.

Sligo’s New York fixture, which starts at 7.30pm (Irish time), is available to view via livestreaming on GAAGO. Meanwhile, there will be Sligo interest in Sunday’s other provincial quarter-final – London’s hosting of Leitrim at McGovern Park, Ruislip (2.30pm). During the Allianz Football League, which saw London win three of their seven Division Four games, including a two-point defeat of Leitrim at the Connacht GAA Centre of Excellence, Sligo natives James Hynes (ex-St Farnan’s) and Eoin Flanagan (formerly St John’s) were regulars for the Michael Maher-managed London. London’s captain and talisman Liam