Sligo’s Pat Hughes eyes Connacht redemption against Mayo

If there is one Sligo player who’ll see Sunday’s game against Mayo as a shot at redemption it will be the Connacht Senior finalists’ full-forward, Pat Hughes.

He was denied the chance of shining in the 2012 final, the last time these counties met in a Nestor Cup showdown, when an injury sustained in the warm-up ruled him out just minutes before throw-in at Hyde Park.

Hughes, 23, recalls that day with a certain rawness.

“I don’t think I can remember the first half of that game at all — I was sitting on the bench, with my leg strapped up, just devastated about what had happened.

“It took a long time to come to terms with the fact that I had been preparing for that game, it was finally here, and I couldn’t be part of it.” Three years on, Hughes has another chance of a provincial medal, this time at full-forward, having been converted from a midfield/centre-forward by new manager Niall Carew.

The Geevagh clubman’s smooth transition to being a focal point at the edge of the square — witness his excellent display against Roscommon in Sligo’s shock win — has been helped by advice from his fellow attackers, David Kelly and Adrian Marren.

“I still have an awful lot to learn about playing at full-forward but with the likes of Adrian [Marren] and David [Kelly] alongside me in the full-forward line, you don’t be long picking up the tricks of the trade off those two boys, they are two of the best inside forwards in the country.” Hughes comes from a rugby background — he won a Connacht Schools Senior Cup with Sligo Grammar School in 2010 and also represented Connacht at U20 level at out-half — and that sport’s loss is Sligo GAA’s gain.

Another dimension to Sunday’s clash is his friendship with Mayo’s golden boy, Cillian O’Connor. They studied at St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra, and played on successful Trench Cup teams.

Hughes, who turns 24 in October, said: “Myself and Cillian are great friends, he is obviously a top-class footballer. He will take a bit of watching.

“It adds a bit of spice to it — the last time we met in a final, in 2012, he had the bragging rights for a while after that and, unfortunately, we haven’t got a crack at them since. Hopefully we can put that right this time.”