[caption id="attachment_71481" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Donnacha O'Dwyer of New York attempts a tackle on Sligo's Brendan Egan during the game at Gaelic Park."]
History was not made at Gaelic Park in the first round of the Connacht championship on Sunday, rather, unfortunately for New York, history repeated itself as they suffered another heavy defeat. Last year they were hammered by Roscommon while the magnitude of the latest shellacking was worse than what Sligo inflicted on their last visit here in 2007. This year we were led to believe that it might be different, not that New York would win, but at least they would contain the opponent with dollops of determination, fitness and sheer passion.
Although the aforementioned qualities were in evidence, they are not substitutions for skill, savvy and experience. Sligo was in a different class and the result was all too painfully familiar. Perhaps the most damning statistic was that the full forward line chalked up 2-14 between them. This was not solely the fault of the fullback line, though they struggled badly and were consistently behind their men, but the culmination of the overall speed, style and skill of the Yeats squad. The center of the field was the only area where Sligo didn’t get their way, but unfortunately New York failed to synchronize up front and make any tangible use of the their possession, especially early on. Even when they had possession, Sligo with deft tackling and timely touches stripped the New York players frequently of the ball. The usually sure handed Alan Hearty suffered such a costly casualty as he intercepted a goal bound effort, only to be stripped of the ball and have it knocked into the net. Only a clueless fan or an irrational zealot expected New York to win, however the patrons expected a better show. Unfortunately the painful reality is that there is a vast chasm between New York and Connacht teams.
Meanwhile New York threw themselves into the thick of the action from the throw in as in the first few minutes they kept Sligo off the ball. However their accuracy did not match their early zeal and energy as they recorded three wides from eminently scoring positions.
Schedule: Sunday May 13th
9:30 u 16 Rangers v StBarnabas/Celtics
10:45 u 18 Rangers v St. Barnabas
12:30 JKO Offaly v Westmeath
2:00 IKO Mayo v Rangers
3:30 SKO Kerry v Tyrone
5:00 SKO Leitrim v Dublin
