'This could be the start of something for GAA in New York'

New York captain Jamie Boyle said he was confident his side's stirring performance in their narrow loss to Sligo in Gaelic Park on Sunday represented "the start of something" for GAA in the city.

Playing their first competitive match since 2019 - Covid-19 having forced their omission from the past two campaigns - New York unexpectedly took Sligo to the brink in their Connacht championship opener, Niall Madine levelling the game with just three minutes of normal time remaining before a late Sligo burst carried the visitors home.

While the New York side boasted a few familiar faces from home, the Galway duo of Johnny Glynn and Adrian Varley as well as ex-Cork hurler Mark Ellis among them, their starting XV is increasingly American-accented, with native born New Yorkers now central to their efforts.

Chief among that crop is captain Jamie Boyle, who spoke of his pride at the display after the four-point defeat.

"Not one man quit out there today. We said since day one in camp here when we started on this field that we're going to die on every ball," Boyle told RTÉ Sport after the game.

"We got 41 guys on the panel, so the second somebody got tired, the second somebody showed they needed to come off, it was next man up.

'It's nice to hopefully turn the tide here in New York'@NewYorkGAA captain Jamie Boyle spoke to @Darrenfrehill after today's Connacht SFC meeting in New York #RTEGAA pic.twitter.com/xaxtUkxcYo

"Extremely proud of how we fought. We stayed in it til the end. They went up a goal, nobody put their heads down. That does a number on Sligo too. To see 'alright we just scored a goal and now they're back in our faces'. So, extremely proud."

It's far from the first time New York have given teams a fright in the Connacht