Having experienced 22 defeats in their previous 22 championship outings, one could forgive the footballers of New York for enjoying the celebrations of last weekend's win over Leitrim, but corner-back Jamie Boyle says Sligo is now very much the focus.
It has been a hectic few days since the dramatic penalty shootout win in the Bronx, where US native Mikey Brosnan blasted his spot-kick to the top left corner of the net to spark wild celebrations for a first Connacht championship victory since they entered the competition back in 1999.
Next up is a trip to take on Sligo next weekend. Another unexpected victory would see them advance to a provincial decider and the round-robin of the All-Ireland series.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio 1’s The Championship, Boyle said they the onus is on the team to show the Leitrim victory was not a flash in the pan.
"I hope the view on us now is that we are a team that can compete and win these games. Not make this a one-hit wonder," he said.
"Let’s continue to show that we can compete with these teams and we can win.
"I hope we have changed the narrative a little bit, but we have to keep winning.
"We know how good Sligo are, we played them last year. We have the utmost respect for them
Assessing what has changed to make New York even more competitive, he cites gym work in the off-season, more bonding between layers who previously may have been rivals, while the introduction of quality players such as Eoghan Kerin, Bill Maher, Gavin O’Brien and Rob Wharton all feeds into the mix.
"The biggest thing is to buying into Johnny McGeeney and the management’s vision," he says.
Much was made of New York’s lack of match practice coming into the game last week and how the disadvantage of not being involved in the league would hamper their chances of an upset.
The project manager however took that as a positive, even if it may have contributed to their sluggish start.
"With the Leitrim game, I thought everything was more in our favour. To us, it’s a one-game season. How do you not get up for that? That’s the only thing on our calendar.
"Maybe we needed a few minutes to get shaken up and get into the flow of a faster moving game."
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Boyle also paid tribute to the professionalism behind the scenes with committee members working around the clock for the game at Markievicz Park.
"The efforts they have made since the game ended, I don’t know if they have enjoyed it yet. Right away we got our itinerary, they were asking for passport information.
"We play in little over a week, and everything for that game is set-up and we are ready for that."
Watch Tyrone v Monaghan in the Ulster Football Championship on Sunday from 3.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on the RTÉ News app or RTÉ.ie/Sport or listen to live commentary on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1.
