James Joyce admits that he was "thrilled" when he heard his name mentioned in the sports news on the radio as he drove to work on Tuesday morning. Although a fairly seasoned National League player for Sligo, he admits that it will be a high-point in his career when he appears in his first senior championship match next Sunday against All-Ireland champions Galway at Markievicz Park.

A computer programme analyst, working in Galway, he has, naturally, come in for some good-natured ribbing since the announcement of the Sligo team, and confesses that he will be nervous before the match.

Joyce is from the Coolera peninsula which has the village of Strandhill at its apex about five miles west of Sligo town. He comes from a parish which has never been prominent in Gaelic football but where, nevertheless, the old traditions of the game have not only survived but flourished.

"I don't mind saying that I was thrilled when I heard that I was to play on Sunday against Galway," says Joyce. "I realise that it will be a huge challenge. I realised when I heard the draw for the Connacht championship several months ago that it was a possibility that I would be playing against Galway, but I did not dare to hope that I would be there. "In the National League quarterfinal against Armagh in Longford in April I had a poor match. I don't think I caught a ball cleanly in the entire match. It was a terrible day with wind and rain and the fact that a very good team like Armagh failed to score against us in the second half tells the whole story. "On a good day I believe we could have beaten them but the weather was the same for everybody and they had run up a reasonably good lead at the break and we could not overcome it.

"We will be determined to beat Galway on Sunday. It would be a big feather in our cap. The Markievicz Park pitch itself and the surrounds are in perfect shape. New terracing has been installed on the open side and it looks really well. It will give us a great feeling of pride.

"The atmosphere will be great and there is an air of great excitement around because the All-Ireland champions will be there. A win over them would make a huge impact in Sligo," he says.

His colleague and team captain, Paul Taylor from Eastern Harps, is equally upbeat about the match.

"We will be firing on all cylinders without a doubt," he says. He is not sure about what effect home advantage will confer. "Teams prepare so well for matches like this nowadays that I don't think it matters. It used to be said that home advantage was always worth three or four points, but I don't think that is any longer the case," he says. However, he believes that the All-Ireland champions can be beaten. "We will have to play out of our skins to win against a team like that. It is a great challenge for us and should inspire all the players on the side and, indeed, the entire squad. We have quite a good deal of experience behind us with a good run in the National League. We know that this is a very difficult match but we have done it before and we can do it again.

"Teams now prepare better for matches of all sorts and we have done well. We went to Pairc Ui Rinn in Cork two weeks ago and were leading a full-strength Cork side by a goal at one stage and then lost by only two points.

"They had almost all of the National League team in action and our performance has given us great confidence in ourselves.

"We have the ability but we will have to be at our very best on Sunday if we are to spring a surprise. It would be a huge boost to Sligo football if we were to beat the All-Ireland champions. We are ready," he says, with some conviction.