Can Coolera pull

starting point by directing their thoughts back to last year’s semi-final drawn game, when lucky to survive against Sunday’s opponents.

As continuously mentioned Tourlestrane have been the market leaders in Sligo football since 1994 when the current managers started their playing careers, however, despite this dominance they have not contested a Connacht final and there is a genuine belief that this is the year to break that hoodoo.

Before fully having them thoughts, they must achieve the entry level which is their fourth ‘Owen B’ in a row against a Coolera/Strandhill side that rode their luck at times against St Mary’s in the semi-final.

This is Coolera’s second final of this decade and must be commended for their turn around in form, as at one point they were in relegation trouble, but are now only 60 minutes away from a historic victory.

The big question for John McPartland is how you approach this game from a tactical point of view. He will remember last year, how Tourlestrane stood off them in the drawn game first half, and how his side held possession well and picked their passes accurately to have a comfortable half time lead.

With no other option, Tourlestrane came out in the second half pushing up on the Coolera players, making it very uncomfortable for them coming out of defence turning them over and forcing the game to a replay. In that rematch Tourlestrane abandoned their defensive formation and continued where they left off playing high up the pitch making life very difficult for the Coolera players, that were trying to break the line and transition the ball to their forward line.

The first thing next Sunday that Coolera/Strandhill must prevent is the trademark quick start from Tourlestrane, where they look for a goal to settle them and make sure they don’t allow them to accumulate early scores.

It’s vital that they stay in the game and not turn over possession cheaply as I would expect Tourlestrane to push up on them as they did last year to force mistakes.

They will need to get quality ball into Niall Murphy and Barry O’Mahony, who when in possession will need to take on the Tourlestrane defence, to break the line and make the defenders