Walsh happy with Sligo's Bronx success

Sligo manager Kevin Walsh professed his satisfaction with the manner of his team's 3-21 to 0-6 victory over New York in last night's Connacht SFC opener at Gaelic Park.

The visitors never trailed in the game as players like debutants Pat Hughes and Shane McManus, along with Adrian Marren and Brendan Egan, came to the fore for the Yeats men.

"From our point of view this was a business trip," Walsh told Ocean FM after the Bronx tie.

"Two years ago Galway came here and got a fierce fright and last year Mayo went over to London - the same thing.

"We looked at this as another step to the next round. Whoever lost today was out of the Connacht Championship and that's the way it was.

"We treated this game as a step up to the next one and that's the way it was treated right throughout the weekend, and fair play to our fellas for a professional job."

Centre forward Hughes caught the eye, registering 1-1 on the way to picking up the man-of-the-match award on his first Championship start.

"At the start of the league this year it was all about trying to find one or two players and giving lads game-time," explained Walsh.

"The big thing for us was that we finished the last few league games strongly having introduced a few players.

"The likes of Pat Hughes would have got lots of league time this year, he didn't get a whole pile last year. I think he showed it out there today."

Walsh also gave credit to the more seasoned players in this Sligo side.

"The older stagers like Paul McGovern, Charlie (Harrison), Ross (Donovan) - I could name a lot of them - they were very professional in what they did and that's all we wanted today."

Looking at New York, Walsh was high in his praise of the Exiles and particularly their ability to include some homegrown players.

"Fair play to New York, they have obviously put a lot of effort into this and they have blooded a few American-born players which is great to see.

"I'm told as well that these guys would have trained harder than other New York teams."

Meanwhile, New York manager Connie Molloy said his players were always going to face an uphill task.

"Naturally you are always going to be disappointed when you get a beating like that," the Donegal native told Ocean FM.

"We were hanging in for a while and I think the goal was a bit unfortunate, but that's Championship football and you have to expect that. We learned a very hard lesson on the day."

Molloy said it was always going to be tough for his team coming into their first competitive fixture of the year, whereas Sligo had a full campaign of FBD League and Allianz League games behind them.

"We had two 18-year-olds playing today and it's mindboggling to have to throw them in there, but they have to get their feet wet," he added.

"The preparation is our big problem. We just don't get challenge games and we have no measuring stick to figure out where we are at, so it's tough."