HIS Sligo side may not have got over the line against Down, but Tony McEntee felt the hard-fought nature of the game justified the fight to have the Tailteann Cup semi-finals staged on Sunday.
Upon establishment of the competition, it was agreed that the Tailteann Cup semi-finals would be the only senior championship games on the third Sunday in June as a means of promoting the fledgling secondary competition.
However, McEntee spoke out in the wake of an 11th hour proposal to move the Tailteann Cup double-header to Saturday to accommodate the All-Ireland SHC quarter-finals.
That move ultimately failed, leaving Sligo to do battle with Down on Sunday as planned – the Yeatsmen only coming up short after extra-time in an all-action encounter.
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And the Crossmaglen man felt the way both semi-finals were played proved the right call had been made.
“Absolutely,” said McEntee, “it was very important for Sligo football, very important for me and this team that we got this occasion today.
“We wanted it, we fought for it and, to be honest, I’m only too delighted that we put up a performance that justified the fight we had before it.
“I think the Tailteann Cup needs a Sunday prime time slot. It may not be for the audience, it may not be for the big Division One teams, but we need it for the teams at our level.
“We’re fighting hard, we’re scrapping for everything we can, we don’t have the resources or the players or the volume or everything else that other teams have, but to have an occasion such as today, with people from Sligo and elsewhere coming to support us, is absolutely essential for the development of the Tailteann Cup and teams like Sligo.”
