By Eugene Kyne

OPENING day for the New York GAA is set for this Sunday, April 22, in Rockland.

1:30 p.m.: Senior A KO Cavan vs. Sligo

THE first game of the new year pits the new arrivals and Senior B title holders Sligo against the Breffni boys.

Sligo are returning to the upper echelon where they last tasted championship glory in 1985. They also won titles in 1972, ‘75 and ‘77. This game is about the knockout, however, and it is 13 a side, a player amount that has its lovers and haters (I’m in the second group.)

Sligo will have Enda Henry, Sam Yore, Michael Creegan and Thomas Maher in front of player of the year Dermot Fleming, and they will be set to make a good first impression.

Cavan said good luck to David (Rooster) Rooney over the winter as he returned to Ireland. They have a habit of replacing players with kind, and they still have one of the bigger home bases.

Francie Sheridan, Brian Newman, Sean Lordon and Fergal Shannon give them a settled look, and this game should shake out the cobwebs.

But Sligo are still on a wave of emotion and look for it to continue. The Yeats lads by a goal.

3 p.m.: Four Provinces vs. Donegal

FOUR Provinces were a huge addition to the senior football division last year, and they pushed all others to new highs. With a little bit of luck they could have taken the championship.

They will start the season looking to go further and higher on the ladder of success. Liam McDonald, Mike Higgins and Dermot Boyle, who is a top class keeper, will lead the charge.

Donegal went with youth last season, and those lads should improve for their experience. Eunan Doherty gives them a proven backstop. He would be ideal as a goalie coach with the New York senior team. Mark Duggan, Anton Diver, and CJ Molloy will all put up a tremendous fight.

The lads from Philly may have too many weapons, however. Four Provinces by six.