Kille: Belnaleck not there to make up the numbers

By Mark McGoldrick

DANIEL Kille feels there’s “serious quality” in his Belnaleck, Art MacMurrough’s side as they gear up to end their 92-year long wait to get their hands on the coveted New York Cup.

When Belnaleck take to Brewster Park on Friday to kick off their championship campaign against Enniskillen Gaels, few will remember their title win in 1933, with the Art MacMurrough’s now keen to create their own history.

“We don’t want to be labelled as contenders, we want to be winners,” said manager Kille.

“It’s all about gearing towards championship. The league is important, but there’s something about championship football that every player looks forward to and that time has arrived.”

Despite enduring a difficult start, Belnaleck managed to produce some big results in the league, including a major win over Erne Gaels in Belleek, to secure their Division One status for 2026.

Many view Belnaleck as a dark horse for the title and it’s no surprise given their experience in the likes of the Cullen twins, Che and Lee, Kane Connor, Darragh McGurn and Feargal Keenan.

The Art MacMurrough’s also boast some of the most prolific forwards in the county in Garvan Quigley, Bryan Owens and Ciaran McBrien, who are constant threats up front for Kille’s charges.

The former Fermanagh player feels there’s a good mood in the camp ahead of the campaign.

“There’s no hiding it, we have serious quality within our team,” explained Kille.

“We have a lot of physicality and big men in the Cullens, Darragh McGurn, Peter Monaghan and Dermot Lewsley. Michael Keenan has proven to be a very prolific man-marker.

“Eamon (Greene) brings great energy to the group and he never stops. You then fire in Dan O’Connor who has a serious future ahead of him, because of his ability as a footballer.”

Belnaleck has been drawn in a group against Derrygonnelly, Enniskillen Gaels and Kille’s former club Lisnaskea, who he helped to the All-Ireland Intermediate Championship title in 2011.

The Art MacMurrough’s are the first team in action in the championship and the Belnaleck boss is anticipating a major challenge.

“Enniskillen beat us by 10 points in the first league game, so our aim is to try and make sure there’s not that sort of gap between the two teams when we meet them,” Kille said.

“We’re doing all in our power to plan for them and get in the best shape possible.”

Kille is urging his players to embrace the challenge and make a strong start to the campaign.

“Our aim in the championship is to try and get a win in the first two games to make sure we’re not going into the last game under pressure and make sure we stay in the competition,” he said.