CHAMPIONSHIP Football continues this weekend in Antrim, and St John’s have spent the weekend preparing for a Friday night game against the holders Cargin.

The Johnnies beat Moneyglass on Sunday, while Cargin beat Rossa. The previous Wednesday Cargin beat Moneyglass, while St John’s beat Rossa by three.

So this weekend’s game pits two teams with unbeaten championship records against each other.

However, St John’s manager Paddy Nugent says his team are still a work in progress.

“Last year was difficult for us because of Covid. We have not had a proper pre-season this year either.

“Last year we didn’t win a game in the championship group stages. We drew twice with Rossa, and lost twice to Lamh Dhearg. This year we have had a good start and we will look to continue it on Friday.

“Our target from the start of the year is to get out of the group and that remains our target.”

He said that while his team have had a good start, things are going to get tougher. The Antrim Championship gets more challenging every year.

“There are about six teams who are capable on their day of beating the other. If St John’s turn up and perform then they are as good as anything in the county. If we don’t turn up and perform we can get turned over. Cargin have won five of the last six, but the championship has still been competitive. I think it will be tight enough.”

Nugent says he is pleased with his team, considering that their game against Rossa last Wednesday was their first competitive game in six weeks.

“We lost our last two league games because of Covid. We were trying to get challenge games but that was difficult because the Down leagues, Armagh leagues and Derry leagues were starting. We tried to maximise as much intensity as we could in training. So I was delighted to get over the Rossa game. We had some boys away with the county hurling squad so that game was their first football game.

“It didn’t pan out well in the first half, but they worked hard in the second half. Rossa are a good championship team.”

After they beat Rossa, they had to go and play Moneyglass who had been hammered by Cargin. That meant that everyone expected St John’s to win, but Moneyglass were out to get retribution.

“We know that you don’t get anything easy against Moneyglass. We were delighted to get two from two.

“It is about getting boys game time. I target every game to get a performance. I want to take away the emotion of winning, losing or drawing. If St John’s can put in a performance it takes a good team to beat them. We played well in patches on Sunday.”

One of the challenges that St John’s face is how they handle their dual players. The hurling championship begins the following week.

“It is pretty busy from a dual point of view. But we are trying our best to maximise their time and accommodate them as best we can without overloading them. Me and Brian McFall (the hurling manager) are working together to make sure we don’t work them too much. We want to make sure they are fresh for later in the year. It is a busy couple of weeks for the lads but it is a good thing compared to what we had before.”

Nugent says that the fixtures situation with regards clashes between hurling and football has been better than it has been in previous seasons. But there will be lots of games coming up, and they are looking forward to it.

The football will return on the first of September for their second game against Rossa.