Saturday, June 27
Electric Ireland Connacht Minor Football Championship Quarter-Final
Leitrim v Sligo, Páirc Seán MacDiarmada, 2pm
Like their senior counterparts, the minor footballers of Leitrim and Sligo are always up against it in the race for honours in Connacht. Between them, they have won just five Connacht Minor titles, Leitrim's last in 1998, Sligo's in 1968.
However, both sides come into this year's campaign with high hopes and their quarter-final clash in Carrick-on-Shannon on Saturday is likely to be a highly competitive affair, given recent form.
Last year, Leitrim won the Connacht Minor League title and were hopeful that they could carry their spring form into the summer and make a meaningful bid for provincial glory. In the end, they fell short, losing narrowly to Roscommon in a semi-final defeat that was particularly hard for then manager Enda Lyons and his squad to take.
Connacht MFC
Roll of Honour
Mayo - 39 titles
Galway - 24 titles
Roscommon - 13 titles
Leitrim - 3 titles
Sligo - 2 titles
This year, Sligo find themselves in the same boat. Aidan Rooney's side won the Connacht Minor Football League back in April, earning wins over Leitrim (0-12 to 0-13), Galway (1-9 to 0-9), Longford (2-14 to 1-9) and Mayo (0-11 to 0-10) to top the table for the first time in more than 30 years.
Rooney, who was on the Leitrim team that won the Connacht senior title in 1994, has moulded Sligo's most promising minor side in decades and their form is particularly encouraging given that just a few short months ago, Sligo great Eamonn O'Hara wrote a column in the Sligo Champion where he expressed fears for the future of Sligo football due to the lack of promise on the underage scene.
Sligo have an excellent set of forwards, led by Tourlestrane clubmen Rian Kennedy and Liam Gaughan and Castleconnor youngster Seán Carrabine. Their spine is strong overall, with Finian Cawley at centre-half-back and midfielders Paul Kilcoyne and Oisin Gilmartin showing excellent form throughout the spring.
However, Sligo need to be wary. It's a long time since early April, when they played their last competitive league game, and Rooney has carefully managed the long gap between their final league game and this weekend's championship opener.
“It has been a long wait since the end of the league so that’s a distant memory now,” he said. “We had to come down for a little while after the league because we were so far away. So training changed a little bit and we played a lot of games so it’s those games that have brought us to where we are in terms of preparation. We’re in good shape, all the lads are happy.”
Leitrim know from last year's experience that league success does not guarantee anything come the summer, but no doubt players such as Michael Gallagher, Alan McTague, Conor Cullen, Ryan O'Rourke, Peter Reynolds and Jack Heslin, still on board from 2014, will have learned from last year's experience.
Leitrim are managed this season by Shane Heslin, who took over from Lyons last winter, and they had a decent spring campaign, recording wins over Roscommon (4-12 to 0-14) and Longford (3-8 to 2-10), as well as battling to a draw with Galway (0-11 to 1-8).
They were beaten narrowly by Sligo when they met at Cloone back in March, and there is unlikely to be much between the sides on Saturday afternoon either.
"We are very aware that this is a very good Sligo team," Heslin told the Leitrim Observer ahead of the game. "They are the Connacht minor league champions for the first time in about 30 years, Summerhill College were in the Connacht Colleges A final, and we know that it is a massve challenge for us and that we are up against it.
"Home advantage is an addition to the team but it is still a big challenge for the lads. Sligo football is on the up at the moment with their senior team having beaten Roscommon last weekend. I'm sure that will be a massive boost for Sligo football and the minor lads are bound to feel the effects of that.
"Our lads are very good footballers. They have been very well coached by their clubs and we will be looking to get a good performance. You can never fully legislate for what can happen on the day but we are hopeful of getting a good performance."
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Preview: Arthur Sullivan