N.Y. GAA Sligo’s footballers upset Clare

By John Markey

Sligo 1-14, Clare 1-13

Such was Sligo’s plight on Sunday that the majority of spectators in attendance gave them no chance of causing an upset in their senior football Div. II contest at Gaelic Park. Indeed, they were forced to call upon the services of Tom McVann due to their insufficient numbers prior to the throw-in. Trailing by 1-8 to 0-4 nearing the halftime whistle, it was the scoreline many expected but no one would have forecast the final nine minutes.

In their first attack, Clare found the net with Dermot Boylan tapping in after a Paul Devlin effort had rebounded off the post. They continued to press but several chances went abegging but still managed to power their way to a 1-8 to 0-6 interval lead.

They continued to press in the second half and it seemed a case of McVann’s goal sparked a Sligo revival and to their credit, the Westerners displayed a lot of character and come the final whistle, duly deserved their success.

John Cribben, Kieran Fleming, Thomas Kane, Niall Coogan, Peadar Reynolds and Tom McVann were best for Sligo. Gary Looney, Derek Garvey, James Prenty, Sean Lakes, Danny Lynch and Dermot Boylan tried hard for Clare.

Sligo scorers: T. Kane 0-8, T. McVann 1-0, P. Reynolds 0-2, C. Healy 0-2, R. Cosgrove and P. Brennan both 0-1.

Clare: D. Boylan 1-4, D. Lynch 0-3, P.Devlin 0-2 H. Prenty, N. Delaney, S. Lakes and J. Egan all 0-1.