'It took us a while, but we got it right'

What they said: Croke Park reaction "We were very relaxed going into the match but we seemed to stand back and watch them do it for a while. It took us a while, but we eventually got it right." - Peter Ford (Sligo manager)

The word "unruffled" may not have expressly been forged for Peter Ford but it should have been. After masterminding another day of superhero folklore for a Sligo county long starved of such pleasures, Ford emerges from the dressing room as if astonished by all the fuss.

This winning in Croke Park lark, it's becoming a bit of a habit.

"Yeah," agrees Ford with an amused grin.

"Yeah." Yeah. The Beatles are coming to mind.

"Ah, today was good. We were poor for the first 15 minutes or so and at 0-9 to 0-3 down it looked as if we were in trouble but they came back into it well. We were very relaxed going into the match but we seemed to stand back and watch them do it for a while. It took us a while, but we eventually got it right.

"You know, Neil Carew came in and he has had his critics but we feel he is an outstanding player and I think he showed us that today."

Ford has stalked the west long enough as a player and general sportsman to have drawn a lesson or two. Since arriving in Sligo, he has taken the county to a new level by demanding that they live with the elite teams. Here, under a draining sun, it showed.

"Well, we are as fit as any team and we train hard as any other team. I know John O'Mahony and am well aware of the kind of effort teams like Galway put in. We are no different. And this was a good win but it is not the same as last year. The same excitement won't be there.

"Now we are in the last eight of the championship and it is great to be there but we will have to see if we can keep it going."

Eamon O'Hara, wearing a Tyrone jersey is leaning against the wall in a corridor close to his manager. After the Connacht final loss to Galway, the captain was bluntly critical of the effort of his team. They followed up with a response that must have delighted him.

"Well, we were pathetic for the first 20 minutes," he counters.

"Tyrone were belting balls in for the crack. Mark Cosgrove was taken off but he was just the scapegoat for the rest of us. It was our fault because we weren't working hard enough in the beginning. But once we stopped the ball going in, it started happening for us."

Of O'Hara's three points, the final one stands alone, a massive, cloudbursting effort that spent an eternity in the air before just about falling behind the Tyrone crossbar. They were still three points behind on the scoreboard at that stage but were coming like a steam train.

"Scores like that can happen when a team is on a roll. I have seen it happen against us so many times, teams scoring from 60 yards out.

"We could see Tyrone beginning to fade at that stage. But we said at half time that a goal would be needed to win the game and thankfully, it came for us." So now, Sligo are around for the final shake up. "Well, this is still just a victory for the morale. We have won nothing yet, have no medals so we have to try and follow on from here."

Art McRory is the last to exit the Tyrone dressing room. Art, a great football man, looks out at the world through those impenetrable glasses of his and offers a calm synopsis.

"Well, you have to give credit to Sligo," he sighs. "We hit the ground running, all right, but the wheels started to come off. Sligo had four good goal chances and were unlucky not to take them so the best team won it and good luck to Sligo.

"We didn't get to play in the second half. Our work ethic was not apparent and after we got the seven points lead, we started to get careless. Now, I would say that the style of refereeing allowed Sligo's strength to tell and was possibly central in our demise. There was not one dirty tackle in the game, I have no complaints in that regard at all but we could not ship what we did and keep our game going."

Right now, it looks the window that looked to be there for Tyrone has been gently closed. This is a setback. Art, however, has absorbed setbacks before.

"We are still a young team. True, some players didn't really perform and we will address that. But this will prove a good experience for the team. After the backlash of this defeat, we will try to work it out where we go from here."