SLIGO manager Tony McEntee has eased expectations of his side claiming what would be an unforgettable result this Sunday, with the Division Four champions listed as 16/1 underdogs for their encounter with Dublin.
It has been a positive year for the Crossmaglen man’s team, as they followed up that league success by reaching the Connacht final, which has given them the chance to test themselves against the best teams in the country in the All-Ireland Series.
No matter who you are, oppositions don’t come much tougher than Dublin, and whilst many spectators feel that the Dubs aren’t the same force that they were several years ago, McEntee still believes that the gulf in quality is much too large between the two teams.
“To be fair, I think that makes no difference to us whatsoever,” he said, regarding Dublin’s form.
“The chasm between ourselves and the likes of Dublin is so far, that that conversation isn’t relevant to us at all. In this game we’re going to see how long we can compete with them and take that knowledge into Division Three next year.
“As much as I’d love to tell you that we’re here to win these games, it’s just not practical or honest. Beating Dublin is not on the horizon here, but competing against Dublin is, and how long we can do that for is what’s important.”
Defeats against Galway and Roscommon by a combined 24 points in recent weeks have provided tough lessons for Sligo to learn, and whilst they may have another lesson coming their way on Sunday, McEntee says that the mood remains high in the Yeats County.
“The lads are in really good form,” he said.
“It has been a long year, and to be honest I would have thought that they would be getting fatigued at this time of year, but they’re not. They have maintained their intensity, and their willingness to want to train and to learn.
“We had two targets at the start of the year: to get promoted from Division Four and to reach a Connacht final, and we achieved both of those targets.
“Then the next target was to get one win in the All-Ireland Series, and realistically we knew how difficult it was going to be for that to happen. But we got a draw against Kildare, which was a reasonable outcome for that game.
“So, at this point, I would say that it has been a really good year. If you have achieved the goals that you set out at the start of the year, that’s bound to be positive.”
As McEntee mentioned, Sligo earned a draw against Kildare earlier in the competition, and that result gives them a chance of reaching the preliminary quarter-finals.
With one game left, Sligo’s point difference is only one less than Kildare’s and whilst Roscommon and Dublin are likely set to be having a points difference ‘shoot out’ of their own to take top spot, Sligo will be conscious that keeping the score down this weekend could keep them in the All-Ireland for one more game at least.
Despite that, McEntee says that they can’t be drawn into adopting a ‘park the bus’ approach.
“It’s certainly on our minds, but it’s not how we’re approaching this game,” he said.
“We want to see if we can balance expressing ourselves, whilst containing Dublin as best we can. We’re not looking at it and saying ‘let’s keep the margin of defeat to seven points’ or whatever it might turn out to be.
“Now, in the last five minutes of the game, if we get word that it’s going to come down to score difference, that will change our thinking. But from the outset, we’re going to see if we can express ourselves, and improve from our last game.
“If we go toe-to-toe, we could get wiped off the field, but if we attempt to sit back and keep the score down, the very same thing can happen, so I don’t think that strategy works for us.”
