April 7, 2023 By Michael Dorgan
New York play Leitrim in the opening round of the Connacht Senior Football Championship Saturday with the Exiles looking for their first ever win in the competition having first entered the tournament back in 1999.
Excitement is building in the Big Apple with many pundits believing this is the strongest New York panel in a number of years with new additions including Rob Wharton and Gavin O Brien from Kerry, Eoghan Kerin from Galway, Bill Maher from Tipperary and Shane Carthy from Dublin who is commuting from Boston to hook up with the squad.
Odds on New York pulling off the upset have been slashed from 13/2 in to as low as 9/4 with Boyle Sports.
One negative for the panel is that they have not played any competitive or challenge games ahead of Saturday, whereas Leitim just finished a full schedule of Division 4 league games.
This is McGeeney’s second year in charge of the New York senior team having led St. Barnabas to back-to-back county titles in 2020 and 2021 with all-American-born players – a first for the county.
Throw-in is at 6 p.m. Saturday, that’s 11 p.m. Irish time and the game will be shown live on GAA GO.
In these podcasts, I interview Niall Madine who has been one of the top forwards in the county in recent years. Niall has played at inter-county level for County Down and plays with Kerry New York here and also drafts up to Brooklyn Shamrocks.
Former Dublin footballer Shane Carthy joins the New York panel this year while commuting from Boston Carthy and brings a ton of experience to the New York fold being a multiple All-Ireland winner with Dublin and he has also won an All-Ireland club winners medal with his home club St. Vincents.
Today Carthy plays his football with Donegal Boston and interestingly Saturday will not be the first time he togs out in a New York senior jersey, Carthy made his intercounty debut with the Exiles back in 2009 at the age of 17 when New York lost to Mayo. He spent most of his childhood living in New York, which he touches upon in this interview.
Manager Johnny McGeeney takes charge of the New York senior team for the second consecutive year having led St. Barnabas to back-to-back county titles in 2020 and 2021 with all-American-born players – a first for the county.
McGeeney is originally from Armagh and played intercounty for a number of years with New York.
