Sligo get to grips with 'awkward' assignment

ALL-IRELAND SFC QUALIFIER ROUND THREE:OF THE many words that come to mind when being drawn away to Kerry in the All-Ireland qualifiers, most of which would be unprintable, Sligo manager Kevin Walsh chooses "awkward" – and that's not trying to be polite about it. It's more about Saturday's journey into the Kingdom than it is playing the Kingdom.

“The travelling is awkward, the timing of it is awkward, and that’s before we even start talking about the opposition,” says Walsh. “To be honest, I didn’t really care who we got. I wasn’t too pushed. All you can do is your best, no matter who you’re taking on.

“My main concern was that we weren’t drawn away from home again. After been down in Thurles last weekend, and all the organising that went into that, it would have been nice to get a home game, in front of a home crowd.”

There is no train from Sligo to Tralee. It’s a long, tiresome drive. That leaves flying as the best option. It just wasn’t the easy option.

Since the draw was made last Sunday, Sligo secretary Padraig Duffy has been acting as travel agent, and the best deal he could find was chartering a 1pm flight out of Knock, arriving in Farranfore 45 minutes later. That gives reasonable time to loosen the limbs before the 5pm throw-in, but win or lose, it’s a rush back to Farranfore for an 8pm flight back to Knock, and then on home by bus to Sligo.

Duffy considered flying out of Sligo airport, but was quoted €14,000 for a 44-seater. Instead he got a 90-seater out of Knock, which worked out at around €150 per passenger.

Walsh’s only concern was getting his team right for the challenge at hand. Sligo have only met Kerry once before in the championship – the 1975 All-Ireland semi-final, when Kerry hammered them 3-13 to 0-5. They’re not expected to win on Saturday either, but they’re certainly not without a chance.

If anything Sligo’s morale is in better shape. They came through a tough encounter with Tipperary that helped restore confidence after the narrow defeat to Galway in the Connacht semi-final, whereas Kerry took another knock to their confidence after scraping through against Longford, losing Kieran Donaghy to injury in the process.

With Donaghy probably ruled out for the rest of the season, it was hoped Tadhg Kennelly would be available after breaking a finger shortly after the Munster semi-final defeat to Cork, but a setback to his recovery means he won’t be back until August 1st.

“The bottom line is we’re not going down there for a moral victory,” says a clearly determined Walsh. “We want to bring our form down there, which has been quite good. And we want to show what a good team we are.

“We don’t just want to put up a good show. I know the bookies and everyone else don’t give us much of a chance, but we’ll do our best. Give it 110 per cent. That’s all we can do.

“Playing Tipperary was a big game for us, coming off the defeat in the Connacht semi-final. Tipperary had already beaten Louth, so it was a big thing to see how our boys would react to the defeat to Galway. Particularly when we could and should have won it. And in fairness they reacted brilliantly.

“There’s a huge buzz around the county now, supporters-wise. Beating Tipp was important. . . . they showed the bottle for it. And there is the extra bit of excitement given Sligo haven’t played Kerry in the championship very often. But Kerry are the ones who have to perform. No doubt about that.”

It’s just a pity, he says, and a little unfair, that the game isn’t in Sligo: “Surely the GAA had a few other ways of looking at it. I think Donegal are at home this weekend for something like the seventh time in a row. It’s Wicklow’s third time at home. Maybe the first team out should only have home advantage if they’d travelled the week before. And so on down with the next fixture.

“But to be away two weekends in a row, with a six-day turnaround, is a little unfair. The other thing they could have looked at was a neutral venue, say a double-header in Portlaoise, with Down and Wicklow. And put everyone in the same boat.”

The Sligo support, evident in Thurles last week, are sure to make their presence felt in Tralee. Walsh will probably go with the same 15 although captain and corner back Charlie Harrison has not yet fully recovered from the shoulder injury sustained in the Galway defeat.