By John Harrington

New York goalkeeper, Vinny Cadden, admits it will be strange playing against his native Sligo in Sunday’s Connacht SFC Preliminary Round in Gaelic Park.

Cadden played for two seasons with Sligo and is still good friends with most of their players, so it’s not easy getting his head around the fact that they’re opponents now rather than team-mates.

“Ah yeah, 100 per cent,” he said. “It is strange to think that Sligo are coming out to play here but I am looking forward to it now. Preparations and training have been going good so I am just looking forward to it now.

“I would have been clubmates with a good few of them and I would have played with a lot of the rest of them. A few of the young lads that came in I wouldn’t have but I know them from playing club football back home.

“I am always chatting to the lads on Whats App and things like that, slagging each other and all that so I am always in contact with them.”

Cadden is one of three Sligo natives in the New York panel along with Eoin Flanagan and Colin Keane.

The three of us are really looking forward to this, with all the added buzz of family and friends," he said. "We are really looking forward to it. There are lads from all over the country on our team and they have family and friends travelling for this too and they are looking forward to it just as much as we are."

Cadden was one of New York’s heroes when they came agonisingly close to beating Roscommon last year, making a series of spectacular saves that kept his team in the game.

“It is all part of the job of being a goalkeeper,” he said. “I wasn’t exposed for any of those shots and the lads at the back were there to pick up the rebounds after. I made the saves but they made me look good by cleaning up the ball afterwards.

“It was one of those days where everyone played their part. I was delighted with how I played but from 1 to 15, everyone put in a marvellous shift. It was just unfortunate that we fell short.

“It was such a sinking feeling after losing by one point and then you are thinking if we had taken that score or if I had made that save it could all have been different.

“This conversation would be a lot different if I had saved that penalty. So yeah, there was a sinking feeling alright but it also encouraged everyone to build on it and we are going in with all guns blazing this year now.”

Cadden is bullish about New York’s chances of causing an upset, but he knows better than most that Sligo have a lot of talented forwards who will do damage if they’re not closely watched.

“Anyone of the forwards, I know how good they  can be from playing with them and playing against them at club level,” he said.

“The likes of Stephen Coen and Kyle Cawley up front are great finishers. I know Niall Murphy is struggling for fitness at the moment, he is another big name but there are a lot of big names on that team, we will have to keep an eye on everyone and not just a few.”