Sligo dedicate poignant League title win to the late Red Óg Murphy

SLIGO'S superb second-half saw then wrap up their Allianz Football League campaign in style as they won the Division Four title with a two-point defeat of Wicklow, 2-10 to 0-14, at a wet Croke Park.

A better second-half display, sparked by midfielder Paul Kilcoyne’s goal, saw Sligo overturn an interval deficit.

Team captain Niall Murphy, who top-scored for Sligo with 1-04, afterwards dedicated Sligo’s win to the late Red Óg Murphy, the Curry and Sligo star who passed on April 1 of last year.

This was Sligo’s first AFL silverware since their Division 3 title in 2010.

Even with both teams heading up to Division Three for 2024 – irrespective of the outcome – there was still a sense of occasion about this fixture and, don’t forget, a piece of national silverware for two counties who’ve had more lows that highs.

The game’s big subplot was the presence of two Crossmaglen pals in the respective dugouts – Sligo boss Tony McEntee was up against his former club and county team-mate Oisin McConville, who is in his first term at Wicklow’s helm.

McEntee, who is in his third year in charge of Sligo, took the bragging rights earlier in the campaign when Sligo beat Wicklow by six points, 0-18 to 0-12, at Aughrim’s Echelon Park.

That was the first of six consecutive wins for an improving Sligo side following their opening round slump to Laois, with Wicklow showing their credentials by beating Laois – both Laois and Wicklow had made the drop from the Allianz Football League’s third tier last year.

Sligo nearly made an ideal start with a goal shot from David Quinn but the ball flashed across the face of Wicklow’s goal with just 37 seconds on the clock.

This spurred Wicklow into a period of dominance and they struck four unanswered points in the