Bogue eyeing All-Ireland progress for Clogher

By Alan Rodgers

CLOGHER’S sensational season reaches another important milestone this weekend when the Eire Ogs bid to get their All-Ireland campaign off to the perfect start when they meet the British champions in the Twinning Final on Saturday evening at Stewartstown.

Fresh from their brilliant Ulster title success a fortnight ago, the Eire Ogs will be anxious and confident of making their mark further as the national triumph comes within reach. But they will have to be on top form to defeat Tara GAA who have also made impressive progress in reaching this stage.

They captured the British title for the second year running at the end of November, and will also be confident, like Clogher, of making their mark on the All-Ireland scene during the coming weeks.

It has, of course, been a memorable few months for Clogher. After missing out on promotion to Division Two of the Tyrone league in August, they bounced back in impressive style to take the county junior title in October. The provincial title was secured a few weeks ago and now their sights are set on even greater heights.

Key attacker, Ciaran Bogue, has been consistency personified for Clogher throughout this campaign. He realises the importance of their Ulster title and the relishes the chance to go for All-Ireland glory in the coming weeks.

“Getting to this stage of the championship was something that we always dreamed about, but I suppose you never really think about getting there,” he said.

“The aim for us throughout this season has always been to take things one game at a time and see how far we can go. We’re not done let and we’ve now for the Twinning Final and hopefully an All-Ireland series to look forward to.

“In the Tyrone championship we won every game by double figures. But then our games in Ulster have been very tight. We can play games both ways which is good, and that was shown in the Ulster Final when Conor Shields got a black card and we were able to dig in and get through that period.

“It’s all about having different patterns and ways of playing. In Ulster you start to get a momentum. We’ve never talked about this as bonus territory, but more of it being another step in the ladder to where we can to go.”

Croke Park, of course, is going to be the ultimate aim for Clogher. However, a tough match awaits against Tara GAA from London who recently won the British title for the second consecutive year. They defeated Sean McDermotts in the decider at Pairc Na hEireann in Birmingham and will travel to Ireland full of hope of making it to an All-Ireland semi-final.

It’s a tie, then, that Clogher will have to be focused on and, according to McKernan, that’s exactly their aim as the countdown continues to this clash at Stewartstown.

“We have definitely benefitted from the tough matches in Ulster. The team has built resilience, and it was really special to win the Ulster title,” added Bogue.

“The amount of people from the community who have come to watch us has been amazing. There’s a real spirit and link between the players and supporters.

“The Twinning Final is another big game for us first, and that’s all we’re looking at for now. We will get our homework done in training. There’s three games potentially left for us now, and that’s our target after winning Ulster.

“Getting to the All-Ireland semi-final is our big target now, so we’ll see how we get on. It would be great to progress on into the All-Ireland series.”