[caption id="attachment_71359" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Manager Connie Molloy"]
The first round of the Connacht championship gets under way at Gaelic Park next Sunday as Sligo take on New York. On the surface it seems that the Yeats County should have the measure of the Big Apple squad. Five years ago when these two teams last met, Sligo had a rather facile victory over the local squad. That year they went on to win the Connacht championship. Since then, they have had rather mixed fortunes, seemingly on the cusp of further success only to falter when the prize was within sight.
In 2010, after disposing of the big two, Galway and Mayo, Sligo looked set to lift the Nestor cup, only to be thwarted by the superb free taking of Roscommon’s Donie Shine. Last year complacency caught them as Leitrim sent them packing in the first round. In the league they were inconsistent as poor form cost them early on, but they finished strongly with a respectable eight points. They had victories over Offaly, Tipperary, Wexford and Roscommon, defeating the latter by 1-12 to 0-12, without the injured David Kelly and Eamon O’Hara, two of their most influential players. Mark Breheny, Adrian Marren, Alan Costello and David Rooney were reported to be very impressive in this victory over the Rossies.
This is a very experienced and battle tested Sligo squad as at least 12 were members of the 2007 panel. In addition, they have two all-stars in the ranks, namely their talis man Eamon O’Hara (2002) and their sterling defender Charlie Harrison 2010). Granted O’Hara is 36 but he is still a vital element with his athleticism, inspirational runs and leadership qualities. The Sligo rearguard has been amazingly consistent with keeper Peter Greene the anchor, and fronted by players such as Harrison, Noel Maguire, Ross Donovan, Johnny Davey, Johnny Martyn and Paul McGovern. In fact this crew are on the thirty mark. Younger defenders such as Brian Kennedy, Neil Ewing and Keenlan Cawley have also been blended in. Sligo will probably opt for Eugene Mullen in the middle and his partner could be the veteran O’Hara or Stephen Gilmartin. Up front the Yeats County has notable score getters in David Kelly, Mark Breheny, Adrian Marren Stephen Coen and Alan Costello. Other players that will be jockeying for positions are, Colm McGee, Brendan Egan, Francis Quinn, Mark Quinn, Shane McManus. The selectors have also added James Clarke, Niall Murphy, Vinny Cadden, David Maye and Pat Hughes from the their under 21 team.
In contrast the New York squad is a very inexperienced side, in fact there is only one player from the 2007 panel and that is Mayo man Declan Reilly. Compounding the inexperience is the fact that the New York mentors have a relatively small panel at their disposal which will restrict their options. To begin the pool of players is not very large, though the drafting process and the summer acquisitions can create a mirage effect. The unavailability or unwillingness of a number of players to be involved, coupled with desertions and dismissals further diminished the depth and size of the panel. It’s ironic that there are no players from the finalists of the New York senior football championship in the panel. The Connacht championship game should be a showcase of New York football where the best available team should be on the field, unfortunately many players don’t think so. Meanwhile management can only play with the hand that they are dealt, that is not to be dismissive or disparaging of the panel. Rather the mentors and the committed players have to be commended on sticking to the task when they were abandoned by many of their peers.
The manager Molloy and trainer Coleman along with the rest of the backroom team have worked hard to prepare the team. The panel is extremely fit and playing with plenty of intensity and aggression. New York will have Alan Hearty in goals and he will be directing operations at the back. Vying for central defensive positions will be Sean Kelly, Ronan McGinley and Donnacha O’Dwyer. Paul Lambe, Brian Sweeney and Stuart Stokes may be corner men while Caolan Short and the Hogan brothers, Conor and Shane could be flankers. There are a few options in the middle of the field with the three big Kildare men, Eoghan Carew, Sean Kinahan and Michael Kennedy being deployed there. Eoin Hogan, the former Limerick player could direct operations from the forty, that is if one of the afore mentioned midfielders is not there. Then the strong running of Hogan might be better suited to the wing. Declan Reilly is comfortable on the half or full line of the attack. Inside CJ Molloy will be the target man who hopefully will use his size and strength to keep the Sligo defense off balance. The former Westmeath player Darren Moore seems like an obvious choice for the corner where his pace and skill can rattle corner backs, while Armagh man Ciaran Conlon could be in the opposite corner. Well it almost seems like a case of Murphy’s law for New York, as Paddy Smith aka Tomo reinjured his knee on Thursday night. Tomo would have been an automatic choice for the full forward line, where there are few better at goal poaching than the Cavan man. Other players on the panel are Brian Cullinan, Del Ferreira and Brian Giveney. New York will not want for motivation as few are giving them much of a chance. Naturally they would like to prove the pundits wrong. However unless there is a miracle in Gaelic Park, like the miracle on ice in the hockey game between Russia and the U.S. in 1980, Sligo have more than enough to take care of business.
Celtics win
close contest
Celtics dominated the early exchanges in this junior knockout and were soon three points ahead, but a powerful goal from Seamus Kelly after a timely pass from Liam Farrell had the sides level after ten minutes. Both sides then traded points but Celtics assumed command for the remaining quarter as midfielders McKenna and Yore kept forwards Keaveney, Cox, Nugent and Morgan well supplied to leave them in front at the short whistle by 0-8 to 1-1. Cavan stepped up their performance as Sean McGivney cut through for a fine point, however Celtics replied with two. On ten minutes Brendan Reilly struck the best point of the game which seemed to rally his team. Then the Kyne axis, a father and two sons kicked in to win frees and land two scores but once again Celtics stalled the Cavan momentum with a brace of their own. However for the last ten minutes Cavan were very much on the offensive as they reduced the deficit to two points but they also spurned two goal chances as defenders McCullough, O’Sullivan and Burke repelled other attacks to ensure the victory for Celtics
Celtics: Kevin McArdle, Gerard McCullough, Eugene Cole, Cathal McCrory, Daniel O’Sullivan, Darren McDermott, Derek McKenna, Sam Yore(0-1), Ken Cox(0-1), John Keaveney(0-4), Gary Nugent(0-3), Richie Morgan(0-2), Thomas Cole. Sub. Mike Burke
Cavan: Martin O’Connor, Brian Murray, Michael Smith, Eoghan Kyne, Brendan Reilly(0-1), Christopher McBreen, Shane Buggy(0-1), Paudie Kyne(0-2), Aidan Connolly, Sean McGivney(0-1), Seamus Sexton(0-1), Seamus Kelly(1-1), Liam Farrell. Subs. Stephen Cooke, PJ Smith, Eugene Kyne. Referee Tom Fahey, Man of Match John Keaveney.
Exciting clash
ends in tie
It was beginning to look like the Shay Furlong show in the opening quarter as he popped over two points, blasted a pile driver of the cross bar before dropping in one over the keeper’s head for a goal. St Barnabas were in disarray as passes went astray and men went unmarked. Eventually a good run and a score by Tom McGovern and the introduction of Adrian Wynne got some semblance of order for the Barnabas boys. Ciaran Slattery and Rory Redican exchanged points before Tom McGovern and Brian Whitney combined to set up Wynne for a well taken goal. St Barnabas were now moving the ball much better and another incisive run by McGovern set up Whitney to punch the ball to the net. However the referee ruled it a square ball but both sides swapped points to leave St. Raymond’s ahead at the short whistle by 1-4 to 1-3. St. Rays had a strong start to the second half as Frank O’Rourke blasted in a goal to finish a good move involving CJ Doherty and Slattery. Danny Murphy looked set for another major but a timely block by Nick Torchia kept St. Rays from going further ahead. St Barnabas battled back with a brace to leave two between the sides midway in the half. Once again Furlong began to make his presence felt as he roasted his man to land a point and set up another for the strong running O’Rourke to leave four between the sides with ten minutes left.
Well if the opening segment belonged to Furlong, the last segment belonged to the Hogans. Shane celebrated his introduction with a brace of points and he linked up well with older brother Conor for him to hit the target too. St. Barnabas charged forward in search of another score but the ball was cleared by James Huvane to the other end. Here a fine catch by Tom Brady broke up the attack and the ball was quickly delivered by Frankie McDermott to the St. Barnabas attacking zone. Shane Hogan picked up the ball and cut through the middle to blast over the equalizer to conclude an exciting second half.
St. Barnabas: Conor Hogan(0-1), Tom Brady, Dermot Hayes, Frankie McDermott, Michael McVann, Nicola Torchia , Adrian Clarke, Brian Dennehy, Nick Mestousis, Tom McGovern(0-1), James Mullen, Rory Redican(0-1), Brian Whitney. Subs. Shane Hogan(0-3), Adrian Wynne(1-1), Barry Mullan, Cormac Quinn, Terence Flynn(0-2), Eddie Hogan, John Clarke, Kevin Hallinan,
St. Raymond’s: Ryan Sullivan, Dennis Kilkenny, Tom Huvane, Shane Tierney, James Huvane, Liam Butler, Frank O’Rourke(1-1), Ciaran Slattery(0-2), Shay Furlong(1-3), CJ Doherty, Patrick Tierney, Noel Blanchfield, Danny Murphy. Referee Fergal Mulvanney, Man of Match Shay Furlong.
