Sport

McGuire insists his team's title credentials are genuine

Connacht SFC Final Sligo v Galway The Sligo captain tells Ian O'Riordan next Sunday's game is far from a foregone conclusion

Wed Jul 04 2007 - 01:00

Connacht SFC Final Sligo v GalwayThe Sligo captain tells Ian O'Riordannext Sunday's game is far from a foregone conclusion

Apparently one Sunday newspaper tipped New York to beat them. Most people tipped Roscommon to beat them. And despite their rapid progress towards a first provincial title since 1975, no one, it seems, is tipping Sligo to beat Galway in Sunday's Connacht football final.

Full back and captain Noel McGuire humbly embraced the lack of faith at yesterday's Bank of Ireland press conference in Dublin. Sligo, he agreed, have struggled to make an impact on the Connacht championship since 1975, which also happens to be the last year they beat Galway.

"Sure, 32 years is a long time," said McGuire, "but that's a huge motivational tool for us, that we'll be the team to end that. I do think we are closer to Galway now than some of our recent meetings, and that we won't be far off on Sunday.

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"We've had three or four fairly decent runs in the qualifiers in the last few years, and yet we didn't always show form going into the Connacht championship. I suppose the fact that we're in a Connacht final now is a pressure game for us, to perform at the level we have done in some qualifiers.

"But I think the squad of players we have at the moment is probably the strongest it's been over the last 10 years or so. We have a lot of experience, and a few lads who rejoined this year who weren't involved for the last year or so for a variety of reasons. We have a good bench as well."

McGuire emphasised the return of Michael McNamara and Philip Gallagher, who had been focusing on soccer careers with Sligo Rovers.

Others to come back in under the new manager, Tommy Breheny, are Brendan Phillips, Patrick Naughton, Kieran Quinn, Johnny Martyn, Brian Curran and Johnny Davey.

"Michael is now at centre back and Philip at full forward," said McGuire, "so they're two central positions, and to have players of their calibre in there is a huge bonus. I think a lot of it had to do with Tommy Breheny coming in as manager, because once he took over everyone wanted to be a part of the squad.

"He's definitely made the difference this year, just having a guy from your own county, someone who has played with us himself. He took over in very difficult circumstances, about 16, 17 months ago, when nobody really wanted the job. And he's proven a top-class manager and got a great response out of the players."

Breheny certainly wasn't starting from scratch. Mickey Moran began Sligo's resurgence in the late 1990s before being replaced by the current Galway manager, Peter Ford - under whose reign Sligo made their noted qualifier runs of 2001 (beating Kildare) and 2002 (falling to Armagh in a replayed All-Ireland quarter-final).

Yet they hit a low last year when Dominic Corrigan was removed amid some controversy, the league defeats to Tipperary and Waterford certainly not helping. They still played reasonably well against Galway in the Connacht quarter-final, losing 0-19 to 1-12 on a day Micheál Meehan hit 0-11, but fortunes have slowly turned this year, starting with a crucial league win over Wicklow. They registered a big win over New York and then made the huge comeback against Roscommon on June 17th, outscoring them nine points to one in the final half-hour.

"The Wicklow game was a big-pressure scenario, the losers going into the Tommy Murphy Cup," said McGuire. "It was probably our best performance this year. New York had also given Roscommon a fair bit of a shock last year. We watched the tape of that match, and prepared for that game very well. We also stayed on until the following Thursday, doing three days of hard training. It was great having all the lads together, great for the spirit in the camp.

"We showed that spirit against Roscommon, two goals down, and 10 minutes into the second half. When the game was there to be won the lads really put their bodies on the line. Paul McGovern, Brian Curran - all these fellas said it's not going to happen again.

"I think that goes back to our 2002 game against Armagh. We were within a kick of a ball from making an All-Ireland semi-final, and we haven't gone anywhere close since.

"We've learnt that when you get to a stage like that you have to take your chance, and I think that will stick with us on Sunday, that we know we have to take our chance."