Friends of Sligo Football

SLIGO ALL IRELAND CHAMPIONS It sounds great and well deserved after a great victory by our Junior team against Kerry in Salthill last Saturday. They won from start to finish and actually finished the stronger team with the brilliant David Maye kicking a fine free into the wind , which equalled his brilliant long range free in the first half (8 pts. in all). This was a hard earned but  fully deserved victory. Sligo had to contend with the loss of midfielder Paul McTiernan leading to a number of switches but substitute Brendan McDonagh played very well following his introduction and carried the ball into the opposition territory. The defence played superbly in the difficult conditions after a heavy shower and the usual Salthill gale. McLynn and McHugh controlled the right side with great conviction and were never afraid to push forward. Adrian McIntyre made a brilliant goal line block in the first half and when he moved to midfield he played a pivotal role.
Brendan Egan covered acres of ground and used his experience well. In the forwards Cian McNamara and Kieran Finan worked extremely hard and took their goals well. The Sligo supporters were in full voice in the second half as they sensed victory and ultimately we gained some revenge for that night in Tralee last year. Congratulations to the players, Kevin Walsh. Paul Durcan, Paul Taylor, Dessie Sloyane, John Murphy and all involved, who orchestrated this famous victory. This
culminated a great week when Kevin Walsh committed himself to Sligo for another 2 years and we all welcome that decision. Spare a though for Mark Quinn, who was to captain Sligo to All Ireland victory but was injured for the final. This was very tough bearing in mind he played FBD and League games for the seniors during the winter and spring only to lose out through injury for the championship. What a pity there was not more support for this historic victory but those present
made their presence felt.

We extend sympathy to Sligo senior captain, Charlie Harison on the death of his grandfather recently

Congratulations to Aclare native Padraig Maye, who won 6 medals recently in the senior National
athletics competition.

Last week I made reference to the Gillespie cup in Enniscrone on 9th August. Regrettably 3 stalwarts of this event have passed to their eternal reward since last year- Fergus Brennan, Fr Denis Henry and Peter Kildunne . The latter 2 have been supporters of FOSF over the years in Dublin.