Henry happy with performance
SLIGO ladies manager Paddy Henry said he was delighted his team are back in the All- Ireland Intermediate semi- final for the second year in a row.
He told the Sligo Champion: “We’re very happy that we got over the line over Roscommon.
“The conditions were not great at all, it started to come down with rain, it had been forecast for it but we thought when we were doing the warm- up that it might hold out but the rain started to come down heavily.
“It made it very slippy on the pitch but in fairness to the girls, they battled on.
“We did make hard work of it we weren’t doing some of the things we should have been.
“The goal late at the end of the first half did change things. I suppose in a way it was a cheeky sort of goal and Denise popped it over her head. But it’s good to get these opportunities and take them when they come, which we did,” Paddy explained.
The Tourlestrane man said things looked better from a Sligo perspective in the second half and his side were improving.
“In fairness in the second half we improved and Roscommon missed a lot of chances.“They had a lot of wides and close- in frees which I was surprised with as they were handy enough.” Back in June, Sligo were narrowly defeated by Roscommon in the Connacht Championship so Paddy and his side knew they were up against a strong team. “That was a funny game as we had one foot in the Connacht final and knew they had to win by eight.
“I’m very happy with the performance from Sunday. We wait now for the semi- final with Tyrone.
“That game will be a totally different kettle of fish.
“Many people are saying Tyrone are the favourites to win it out. They came down from Senior last year so they are a very good side.
“I think another dark horse in the competition could be Meath too.
“We played Tyrone in the League back in January and we lost by three or four points, so it was close and we had the chance to win it.
“On the day we’ll see how it goes. Last year it went to the wire too in the semi- final and we could have won. Days like that will help us in terms of experience. We’re hoping to do the business with Tyrone. “The game is Sunday week and the venue hasn’t been announced yet. It could be a double header with Cork/ Mayo, we don’t know. We’re back training this evening and hope to get across the line,” Paddy added.