Costello all set to face native county

June 02, 2010

Sligo's Alan Costello
Sligo star Alan Costello is aiming to plot his native Mayo's downfall in Saturday's Connacht SFC quarter-final.

The half forward was part of the Mayo senior panel in 2004 and '05 before he moved to the Yeats County where he now plays his club football with Coolera-Strandhill. And since declaring for Kevin Walsh's men last year, he has won NFL Division 3 and 4 medals.

"I didn't rush into it, not after being involved with Mayo at underage level and playing with the seniors," he said in the Irish Daily Star.

"But when Kevin contacted me, it had been three years since being involved with Mayo. I hadn't been approached by anyone, maybe I hadn't been playing well enough so I decided to accept Sligo's invitation.

"At the end of the day, I played for Mayo and enjoyed it but I've moved on to Sligo now. I have a job to do and whoever gets in my way, gets in my way!

Costello admits it took him time to get back up to the pace of inter-county football after three years away from that level.

"I hadn't trained at that intensity, at that level, since being in with Mayo so I wasn't as fit as I should have been," he explained.

"I wasn't at a level to really play to my full ability. I've worked hard during the winter, though, and I feel I'm in good shape now."

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