Sligo secretary backs county's 'young talent'

Sligo GAA Secretary Tommy Kilcoyne will wade in behind the Yeats county's "young talent" in his address to the Sligo GAA convention on Monday night.

Kilcoyne's address at the Sligo Park Hotel will see him reflect on a heartening 2005 for the county despite the senior footballers' galling Connacht SFC first round defeat by Leitrim back in May.

Dom Corrigan's side also dropped down a division in the National League.

Both Sligo's minor and Under-21 footballers lost to their Galway counterparts in last season's championships, but Kilcoyne remarks: "The message from these two grades is loud and clear. There is plenty of young talent in the county.

"The challenge for the clubs and the County Board is to channel it in the right direction, help and encourage the players to develop good attitudes and lifestyle and bring them through to the senior grade."

Three straight wins against Longford, Kildare and Clare in the All-Ireland qualifiers saw Sligo back on form and Kilcoyne is hopeful that the winning groove could continue next season.

"Despite a brave effort, Sligo were beaten (by Cork) in the fourth round but can look back with pride on the qualifier series which yielded three senior championship wins in-a-row. This is something not achieved by a Sligo team for over eighty years - not since 1922 in fact," he says.

The Tubberycurry man also congratulates Sligo IT on their 2005 Sigerson Cup win - their third title in the past four seasons, hailing the students' victory as "a truly remarkable achievement."